Morris County, New Jersey


Morris County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey, about west of New York City. According to the 2010 census, the population was 492,276, up from the 470,212 at the 2000 Census, As of the 2019 Census estimate, the county's population was 491,845, making it the state's 10th-most populous county, and marking a 1.5% increase from 2010. The county is part of the New York Metropolitan Area and is divided into 39 municipalities, but has no large cities. Its county seat is Morristown. The most populous place was Parsippany-Troy Hills Township, with 53,238 residents at the time of the 2010 Census, while Rockaway Township covered, the largest total area of any municipality.
In 2015, the county had a per capita personal income of $86,582, the highest in New Jersey and ranked 24th of 3,113 counties in the United States. Morris County, as of the 2000 Census, was the sixth-wealthiest county in the United States by median household income at $77,340, sixth in median family income at $89,773 and ranked tenth by per capita income at $36,964.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis ranked the county as having the 16th-highest per capita income of all 3,113 counties in the United States as of 2009. The county ranked third in the New York Metropolitan area in terms of median income. Morris County was recently ranked number 2 of 21 NJ counties as one of the healthiest counties in New Jersey, according to an annual report by County Health Rankings and Roadmaps.

History

Etymology

Morris County was named after Colonel Lewis Morris, governor of New Jersey in 1738/9, the year the county was named.

Paleo Indians and Native Americans

The Wisconsin Glacier covered the northern section of Morris County from about 23,000 B.C. to 13,000 B.C.
After the Wisconsin Glacier melted around 13,000 B.C., Paleo Indians moved into the area from the south in search of big and small game as well as plants. The area was first tundra with grasses growing. Rabbits and fox moved into the area from the south.
Around the year 1000, the area of Morris County was inhabited by the Lenape Native Americans prior to the arrival of European settlers. They came from the Mississippi River area. They lived along the rivers and hunted game, fished, collected plants and nuts.
Henry Hudson explored the Hudson River area in 1609, and later the Dutch did surveys of the area.
From 1611 to 1614, the Dutch established the colony of New Netherland, which claimed territory between the 40th and 45th parallel north, a zone which included northern New Jersey. Dutch forts were established along the Hudson River beginning in 1613. As the years went by, more forts were established to trade with Native Americans.
The Native Americans traded furs and food with the Dutch for various goods. In return the Dutch gave the Native Americans metal pots, knives, guns, axes, and blankets. Trading with the Native Americans occurred until 1643 when a series of wars broke out between the Dutch and Native Americans.
There were hostile relations between the Dutch and Native Americans between 1643 and 1660. This prevented colonization by the Dutch of the Morris County region which was technically included in their claimed "New Netherland."
On August 27, 1664, three English ships approached Fort Amsterdam and the fort was surrendered to the English. The English now controlled New Netherland and Morris County was now under control of the colony of New York. Relations with the Native Americans improved for a while.
There was a war with the Dutch ten years later. The Dutch re-took control of New Amsterdam but after a year returned it to the English. Relations with the Native Americans and English improved for a while.
European settlements began in the early 18th century while the area was known as Hunterdon County. Native Americans were still in the area at that time. Land was purchased from the Native Americans for various things such as blankets, shirts, rum, guns, knives, pots and gunpowder. European colonization occurred along the Atlantic coast and moved inland.
The first European settlement in the area today known as Morris County occurred in Pompton Plains by the Dutch in 1695. From 1710 to 1730, various iron mines and forges were established. The first was in Whippany in 1710 and then in Succasunna in 1713.
By 1750, nearly all Native Americans had left New Jersey. This was due to land purchases from the Native Americans, diseases that the Native Americans contracted from Europeans, and due to starvation from the Little Ice Age, during which Native American corn crops failed and rivers froze, preventing fishing. Snow storms sent game into semi-hibernation or made them difficult to find. Nut crops such as oak, hickory, beech, walnut, chestnut and butternut failed some years due to late frosts in spring. Many of the Morris County Native Americans went to eastern Canada and others went to the Ohio Valley. The Walking Purchase in September 1737, prevented Native Americans from going to eastern Pennsylvania. At that time, European settlement grew swiftly as there was now land to be farmed and settled.
Morris County was originally part of Burlington County which had been established in 1694. It then became part of Hunterdon County, which separated from Burlington County in 1714.
Morris County was created on March 15, 1739, from portions of Hunterdon County. The county was named for the Governor of the Province of New Jersey, Colonel Lewis Morris. In later years Sussex County and, after the revolution, Warren County were carved out of what had been the original area of Morris County under English rule.
The county was the site of the winter camp of the Continental Army after the Battles of Trenton and Princeton during the winter of 1777, as well as another winter camp at Jockey Hollow during an extremely cold winter of 1779–80.
In the 1880s, Dover was the centre of iron ore mining with the 132 mines producing 700,000 tons of ore annually. The mines were mostly worked by Cornish miners, with the bulk of the population in Dover and Port Oram of Cornish extraction. At that time the Cornish had kept their customs and dialect, were deeply religious and predominately Methodists.

Geography

According to the 2010 Census, the county had a total area of, including of land and of water.
bikeway pond with algae located in Morris Township
The county rises in elevation and relief from east to west, with only the more developed eastern suburbs in the Passaic River valley being relatively level. The highest point is at above sea level on a mountain south of Pine Swamp in western Jefferson Township. The second-highest point is on a mountain just north of Riker Lake at. The lowest point is about in elevation, at Two Bridges, the confluence of the Passaic and Pompton rivers.
The county is drained by several rivers. The Rockaway River drains, of the northern section of the county. The Whippany River drains of the middle of the county. The South Branch of the Raritan River and the Black River drain the western area.
Most of the county's borders are rivers. The Pequannock River drains the northern boundary area. The Pompton River drains the eastern section. The Passaic River also drains the eastern border area. The western border is drained by the Musconetcong River.
There are several large lakes in Morris County, among them are Lake Hopatcong, Budd Lake, Lake Parsippany, and the Boonton Reservoir.

Adjacent counties

Morris has a humid continental climate and the hardiness zones are 6a and 6b.

Geology

Around 500 million years ago, a chain of volcanic islands shaped like an arc collided with proto North America. The islands rode over top of the North American plate. This created the highlands in western Morris County and the eastern section of Morris County.
Around 400 million years ago, a small continent long and narrow collided with proto North America. This created folding and faulting, as compression occurred. Then around 350 million years ago, the African plate collided with North America creating the folding and faulting in the Appalachians. But when the African plate pulled away from North America, an aborted rift valley was created. This half, starts east of Boonton and goes through the middle of Parsippany, south to Morristown, to the south end of Great Swamp. From Parsippany and the Boonton area the half graben goes east to the western side of Paterson, where there was another fault by the lava flows. East of the Ramapo Fault is where there is this aborted rift valley.
The Ramapo fault goes through the county on a northeast–southwest axis. The fault separates the Highlands from the Piedmont, also known as the Newark Basin. This is an active fault. The last major earthquake occurred in 1884, with a strength measured at 5.3 on the Richter scale.
Around 21,000 B.C., the Wisconsin Glacier covered about half of Morris County. The terminal moraine went from Hackettstown east to north of Budd Lake, east to Rockaway and Denville, then southeast to Morristown then south to the south end of Great Swamp. When the glacier melted around 13,000 B.C. the melt water created Glacial Lake Passaic. The lake extended from what is now Pompton Lakes through Parsippany south to the south end of Great Swamp. From Parsippany the lake went east to the lava flows of western Paterson. This lake was thirty miles long and ten miles wide. The depth was about. When the Wisconsin glacier cover Morris County the ice sheet was about deep. Due to debris from the glacier, the lake was unable to drain through the Watchung Mountains near Short Hills. Instead, it drained through Moggy Hollow at the southwestern end of the lake. But when the glacier melted and receded to the New York State line, the lake drained though the Little Falls area, as this was lower in elevation than Moggy Hollow. And thus the Passaic River formed.
The swamps of the Great Piece Meadows, Hatfield Swamp, Troy Meadows, Lee Meadows and Great Swamp were all under the Lake Passaic until it drained, and then these areas were created.

National protected areas

In 2009, Forbes magazine ranked the county sixth-best place in the nation to raise a family, the best of any county in the state. The ranking was mainly due to the high graduation rate of 98.4% and employment possibilities from area industry.

2010 Census

2000 Census

At the 2000 United States Census, there were 470,212 people, 169,711 households and 124,907 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,003 per square mile. There were 174,379 housing units at an average density of 372 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 87.20% White, 2.80% Black or African American, 0.12% Native American, 6.26% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 2.01% from other races, and 1.56% from two or more races. 7.79% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Among those responding for first ancestry, 22.8% were of Italian, 19.9% Irish, 16.3% German, 8.6% English and 7.5% Polish ancestry according to Census 2000.
In 2000, there were 169,711 households of which 35.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.80% were married couples living together, 7.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.40% were non-families. 21.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.18.
Age distribution was 24.80% under the age of 18, 6.40% from 18 to 24, 31.90% from 25 to 44, 25.30% from 45 to 64, and 11.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.70 males.
Hispanics constituted a majority of the population in Dover and over a quarter of the people in Morristown; over 18% of Americans in Parsippany-Troy Hills are Asian Americans. There are fairly equal numbers of Irish American and German American residents. The Jewish community is strong in specific areas, such as Randolph, Rockaway, and Morristown. Lincoln Park, Montville, East Hanover, Pequannock Township, and Riverdale have significant Italian American populations, along with other northern and eastern communities, while the rest of the county is more mixed with populations of Irish and German ancestries. Wharton, Denville, and Mine Hill are Irish American.
The median income for a household in the county was $77,340, and the median income for a family was $89,773. Males had a median income of $60,165 versus $40,065 for females. The per capita income for the county was $36,964. About 2.4% of families and 3.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.7% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

Housing Expense

By national standards, housing is expensive in Morris County. In 2018, the median house price in Morris County was $469,900 the 2nd highest in the state behind Bergen County with a median home price of $476,200.
In the Forbes magazine 2012 ranking of the Most Expensive ZIP Codes in the United States, New Vernon was ranked as the 32nd most expensive in the country, with a median home sale price of $2,701,885. There were a total of 6 Morris county zip codes listed in the top 500, which were Mountain Lakes, Mendham , Chatham , Florham Park, and Kinnelon.
In the magazine's 2006 listing, New Vernon was ranked as the 23rd most expensive in the country, with its median home sale price in 2005 of $1,596,587 ranking as the state's 2nd highest behind Alpine located Bergen County. In all, 5 Morris County zip codes were represented on the list in addition to New Vernon, including Mendham , Mountain Lakes, Green Village , and Chester .

Government

Morris County is governed by a seven-member Board of Chosen Freeholders, who are elected at-large to three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two or three seats up for election each year. The Freeholder Board sets policies for the operation of six super-departments, more than 30 divisions plus authorities, commissions, boards and study committees. Actual day-to-day operation of departments is supervised by County Administrator, John Bonanni. In 2016, freeholders were paid $24,375 and the freeholder director was paid an annual salary of $25,350.
, Morris County's Freeholders are:
Former county freeholders include:
Pursuant to Article VII Section II of the New Jersey State Constitution, each county in New Jersey is required to have three elected administrative officials known as "constitutional officers." These officers are the County Clerk and County Surrogate and the County Sheriff. Morris County's constitutional officers are:
The county prosecutor is Fredric M. Knapp of Randolph, who was sworn into the position in June 2014 after being nominated by Governor Chris Christie in June 2012.
The Morris Automated Information Network, which supplies Internet service to area libraries, turned down $10,000 per year in federal funding, starting in 2004. Acceptance of the grants would have required the network to install anti-porn content filters to comply with the Children's Internet Protection Act. As these filters excluded legitimate information—such as pages with the word "breast" in online searches regarding "breast cancer"—the network declined to accept these grants.
Another organization having the power to affect the county budget without county governmental control is the Morris County Board of Taxation,. "he freeholders, and county government in general, do not have control over tax board spending.... he tax board is an entity of state government, even though it submits expense vouchers to county government."
Morris County is a part of Vicinage 10 of the New Jersey Superior Court, which is seated at the Morris County Courthouse in Morristown; the Assignment Judge for Vicinage 15 is Stuart M. Minkowitz. Law enforcement at the county level includes the Morris County Park Police and the Morris County Sheriff. The judicial organization includes the Morris County Prosecutor's Office.
The 7th and 11th Congressional Districts cover the county.
The county is part of the 21st, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th and 40th Districts in the New Jersey Legislature.

Politics

Though New Jersey is mainly a Democratic state, Morris County is considered a stronghold for the Republican Party. The GOP has carried the county in all but two presidential elections since 1900, and in every election since 1964. All seven county Freeholders are Republicans, as are all countywide elected officers and most state legislators.
As of October 31, 2014, there were a total of 330,014 registered voters in Morris County, of which 113,759 were registered as Republicans, 69,956 were registered as Democrats, and 145,973 were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 326 voters registered to other parties.
In the 2008 presidential election, Republican John McCain received 53.3% of the vote here, ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 45.2% and other candidates with 0.9%, among the 248,306 ballots cast by the county's 321,254 registered voters, for a turnout of 77.3%. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 57.3% of the vote here, outpolling Democrat John Kerry with 41.6% and other candidates with 0.6%, among the 235,920 ballots cast by the county's 313,745 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 75.2.
However, in 2016, Hillary Clinton came closer than any Democrat to carrying the county since Lyndon Johnson's win in 1964, finishing just 4.2 percent behind Donald Trump.
In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 59.5% of the vote here, ahead of Democrat Jon Corzine with 31.0%, Independent Chris Daggett with 8.0% and other candidates with 0.6%, among the 166,516 ballots cast by the county's 314,232 registered voters, yielding a 53.0% turnout.

Taxation

Based on IRS data for the 2004 tax year, Morris County had the tenth-highest average federal income tax liability per return in the country. Average tax liability was $15,296, representing 16.3% of Adjusted Gross Income. Mountain Lakes ranked among the highest annual property tax bills in New Jersey, and highest in Morris County, in 2018 of $20,471, compared to a statewide average of $8,767.

Economy

Morris County has the third-highest median household income in the United States.
Based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Morris County had a gross domestic product of $52.5 billion in 2018, which was ranked 3rd in the state behind Bergen and Middlesex counties and represented an increase of 1.7% from the previous year.

Business

Morris County is home to 33 Fortune 500 businesses that have headquarters, offices or a major facility in Morris County. These include AT&T, Honeywell, Colgate-Palmolive, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, ExxonMobil, Novartis, BASF, Verizon, and Bayer, among others. Major industries include finance, insurance, real estate, pharmaceuticals, health services, research and development, and technology. There are set aside for 28 county parks. Four county golf courses and 16 public and private courses are in Morris.
Major employers in the county include:
#Employer# of employees
1Novartis5,000+
2Atlantic Health System2,500–4,999
3Louis Berger Group2,500–4,999
4Picatinny Arsenal2,500–4,999
5Saint Clare's Hospital Inc.2,500–4,999
6UPS Logistics1,000–2,499
7Avis Budget Group1,000–2,499
8BASF Chemicals1,000–2,499
9ADP Services1,000–2,499
10AT&T Info Tech1,000–2,499

Education

As of 2018, 56.1 percent of Morris County residents were college graduates, the 2nd highest percentage in the state behind neighboring Somerset County with 58.0 percent.
The Florham Park–Madison–Convent Station area is also the home of three universities.
The United States Equestrian Team, the international equestrian team for the United States, was founded in 1950 at the Coates estate on van Beuren Road in Morristown.
Morristown has a cricketing club, the first in North America.
The Morristown 1776 Association Football Club is a soccer club that competes in the North Jersey Soccer League and MCSSA.

Parks

The County boasts 13,000 acres that encompass 28 parks making it the largest county park system in New Jersey based on acreage. Notably, Morristown National Historical Park became the country's first National Historical Park in 1933.

Other points of interest

Municipalities in Morris County are:
Municipality
Municipal
type		PopulationHousing
Units		Total
Area		Water
Area		Land
Area		Pop.
Density		Housing
Density		Communities
Boonton town8,3473,3982.510.172.343,574.61,455.2
Boonton Township township4,2631,6478.630.398.24517.2199.8
Butler borough7,5393,1692.090.052.043,703.21,556.6
Chatham Borough borough8,9623,2102.420.052.373,776.11,352.5
Chatham Township township10,4524,1289.360.388.981,164.2459.8Green Village
Chester Borough borough1,6496471.600.001.591,034.8406.0
Chester Township township7,8382,69729.460.0929.38266.891.8
Denville Township township16,6356,73412.640.7711.871,401.8567.4Cedar Lake
Estling Lake
Indian Lake
Lake Arrowhead
Shongum
Union Hill
Dover town18,1575,7832.730.052.686,765.52,154.8
East Hanover Township township11,1573,9768.140.247.891,413.7503.8
Florham Park borough11,6964,2017.540.257.291,604.9576.4
Hanover Township township13,7125,52610.730.2010.521,302.8525.0Cedar Knolls
Whippany
Harding Township township3,8381,61020.440.5319.92192.780.8Green Village
New Vernon
Jefferson Township township21,3148,59743.113.9839.13544.7219.7Picatinny Arsenal
Russia
Kinnelon borough10,2483,60019.191.2017.99569.7200.1Smoke Rise
Lincoln Park borough10,5214,1456.910.536.381,649.0649.7
Long Hill Township township8,7023,22612.140.2911.85734.3272.2Gillette
Millington
Stirling
Madison borough15,8455,7754.220.014.213,767.91,373.3
Mendham Borough borough4,9811,7986.000.055.95837.1302.2
Mendham Township township5,8692,06218.100.2317.87328.4115.4Brookside
Mine Hill Township township3,6511,3803.030.092.941,241.6469.3
Montville township21,5287,82319.060.5818.481,165.0423.3Pine Brook
Towaco
Morris Plains borough5,5322,1972.590.042.562,163.5859.2
Morris Township township22,3068,50215.760.1415.621,428.3544.4Convent Station
Washington Valley
Morristown town18,4118,1723.030.102.936,284.92,789.6
Mount Arlington borough5,0502,5452.920.752.172,325.21,171.8
Mount Olive Township township28,11711,24431.081.6729.41956.1382.4Budd Lake CDP
Flanders
Mountain Lakes borough4,1601,3632.890.272.621,590.3521.1
Netcong borough3,2321,4490.920.070.843,828.41,716.4
Parsippany-Troy Hills Township township53,23821,27425.391.8323.562,259.3902.8Greystone Park
Lake Hiawatha
Pequannock Township township15,5406,7947.170.426.752,302.71,006.7Pompton Plains
Randolph township25,7349,34321.070.2520.821,235.9448.7Ironia
Mount Freedom
Shongum
Riverdale borough3,5591,6572.090.072.011,766.5822.5
Rockaway Borough borough6,4382,5212.120.052.073,106.71,216.5
Rockaway Township township24,1569,58745.554.1441.40583.4231.6Green Pond
Hibernia
Lake Telemark CDP
Picatinny Arsenal
White Meadow Lake CDP
Roxbury Township township23,3248,58221.891.0620.831,119.9412.1Flanders
Kenvil CDP
Landing
Ledgewood
Port Morris
Succasunna CDP
Victory Gardens borough1,5205660.150.000.1510,419.23,879.8
Washington Township township18,5336,48844.770.3844.39417.5146.2Long Valley CDP
Pottersville
Schooley's Mountain
Scrappy Corner
Wharton borough6,5222,4262.220.072.153,039.01,130.4
Morriscounty492,276189,842481.6221.45460.181,069.8412.5

Transportation

Roads and highways

, the county had a total of of roadways, of which are maintained by the local municipality, by Morris County and by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
Morris County is served by several major roadways including:
also provides rail service with Morris County via its Morris & Essex Lines and Montclair-Boonton Line to Hoboken Terminal and to New York City via its Midtown Direct service. Rail stations are located in the county providing electrified train service seven days a week from: Chatham, Madison, Convent Station, Morristown, Morris Plains, Denville, and Dover on NJ Transit's Morris & Essex Lines; electrified train service seven days a week from Gillette, Millington and Stirling on the Gladstone Branch; and diesel train service from Mount Arlington, Lake Hopatcong, Netcong, Mount Olive, Mountain Lakes, Boonton, Towaco and Lincoln Park.
Bus transportation is also offered by several carriers including Lakeland Bus Company and NJ Transit.

Air

is a general aviation reliever airport located east of downtown Morristown. Operated by DM Airports, Ltd, it is in the Whippany section of Hanover Township.

Local media

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Morristown have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in February 1934 and a record high of was recorded in August 2001. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in September.