SLIDE 18 Page 18 of 53 Myron M. Bytz Appraisals
HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY
Morris County, among the fastest growing counties in the New Jersey, New York, Connecticut metropolitan region, nestles amid rolling hills, broad valleys and glittering lakes approximately 30 miles northwest of New York City. Rich in historic lore and tradition, Morris County was created by an Act of the State Legislature
- n March 15, 1738/39 separating it from Hunterdon County, one of the state's largest counties
- f the period. Named after Colonel Lewis Morris, then Governor of the Province of New Jersey, it
- riginally included what are now the counties of Morris, Sussex and Warren.
The county, first penetrated by the white man in 1700, today combines natural beauty and pleasant suburban living with proximity to metropolitan surroundings. Its rolling landscape is dotted with lakes and rivers which form most of its boundaries with the adjacent counties of Essex, Union, Somerset, Warren, Sussex and Passaic. Much of its beauty has been protected and preserved by the Board of Chosen Freeholders through its Park Commission, formed by referendum in 1955 to set aside and develop land for leisure time and recreational use. Nearly 11,000 acres make up the system, one of New Jersey's
- finest. Included are outdoor education centers, a marina, golf courses, a riding stable, indoor ice
skating arena, cultural center, arboretums, and numerous types of hiking, cycling, wildflower and nature trails. At its most distant points, the county stretches 30 miles from east to west and 30 miles from north to south. Its temperatures vary widely from area to area, averaging in the middle 20's in the winter months and the low 70's in the summer. About 50 inches of rain and 35 inches of snow fall each year. Hills and valleys that run east-west, with rocky out-croppings as high as 1,000 feet above sea level, have long hindered transportation from north to south. Major interstate highways (80, 10, 46, 287, 280) connect many municipalities. There are 39 municipalities in the 477.8 square mile county, varying in size from tiny Victory Gardens Borough with 1,314 residents to Parsippany-Troy Hills Township, with almost 48,500
- residents. All together more than 421,000 persons reside in Morris County.
During the Revolutionary War, Morris County was known as The Military Capital of the American Revolution , because of its strategic location, which prompted Gen. George Washington and his Continental Army to make their winter encampments near Morristown on two different winters. Much of the historic lore of these encampments is preserved today in Morristown National Historical Park. In the years following the Revolution, Morris County was a leader in the iron ore industry, a fact made possible by the abundance of iron ore, timber to fuel the forges, and swiftly flowing streams to provide power. By 1880 Morris was the third county in the nation in the amount of iron ore mined, with 568,420 tons. To process the iron ore, works and mills were built at several locations, including Morristown, Boonton and Dover. It was in Morristown that the steam boiler and some of the machinery for the Savannah, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and parts of the first American locomotive were manufactured and the telegraph perfected by Samuel F. B. Morse and Alfred