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Early Village Building

Washington Township Historical Society Museum
Early Village Building, 2026.

Early Village Building

10 West Mill Road, Long Valley, New Jersey 07853

This modest building has long intrigued historians. The 1977 Morris County Walking Tour publication notes that its location across from Neitzer’s Tavern — and close to the property and store owned by Peter Neitzer — suggests a possible connection to him.

Given its central position, the structure may have functioned as an early village store or commercial space, serving the needs of the nearby mill and tavern.

The building is best known as The Purple Cow. It was a commercial diary store with bright purple walls. Emma and Uncle Toots Emmons owned the story until the early 1970’s. It later became a residence in the 1980’s.

Buildings like this highlight the quiet complexity of eighteenth-century village life, where a range of trades and services supported the surrounding farming community.

Washington Township Historical Society Museum
Early Village Building, circa 1960

Neitzer Tavern

Tunis Trimmer House

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