Morristown

Morristown has been called "the military capital of the American Revolution" because of its strategic role in the war for independence from Great Britain. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the town's population was 18,411, reflecting a decline of 133 (0.7%) from the 18,544 counted in the 2000 census. The area was inhabited by the Lenni Lenape Native Americans for up to 6,000 years prior to exploration of Europeans. The first European settlements in this portion of New Jersey were established by the Swedes and Dutch in the early 17th century. Morristown was settled around 1715 by English Presbyterians from Southold, New York on Long Island and New Haven, Connecticut as the village of New Hanover. The town's central location and road connections led to its selection as the seat of the new Morris County shortly after its separation from Hunterdon County on March 15, 1739. The village and county were named for Lewis Morris, the first and then sitting royal governor of a united colony of New York and New Jersey. The county, and ultimately MorristOWN itself, was named for the popular Governor of the Province, Lewis Morris. In 1777, General George Washington and the Continental Army marched from the victories at Trenton and Princeton to encamp near Morristtown from January to May. Washington had his headquarters during that first encampment at Jacob Arnold's Tavern, located in the center of the town. The winter of 1780 was the worst of the Revolutionary War, complicated by extreme inflation of money and lack of pay for soldiers.

History

Morristown was settled around 1715 by English Presbyterians from Southold, New York on Long Island and New Haven, Connecticut as the village of New Hanover. The town's central location and road connections led to its selection as the seat of the new Morris County shortly after its separation from Hunterdon County on March 15, 1739. George Washington first came to Morristown in May 1773, two years before the Revolutionary War broke out, and traveled from there to New York City together with John Parke Custis (his stepson) and Lord Stirling. The Ford Mansion, Jockey Hollow, and Fort Nonsense are all preserved as part of MorristOWN National Historical Park managed by the National Park Service. The area was inhabited by the Lenni Lenape Native Americans for up to 6,000 years prior to exploration of Europeans. The first European settlements in this portion of New Jersey were established by the Swedes and Dutch in the early 17th century, when a significant trade in furs existed between the natives and the Europeans at temporary posts. It became part of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, but the English seized control of the region in 1664, which was granted to Sir George Carteret and John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton, as the Province of New NJ. The village and county were named for Lewis Morris, the first and then sitting royal governor of a united colony ofNew Jersey. By the middle of the 18th century the town had 250 residents, with two churches, a courthouse, two taverns, two schools, several stores and numerous mills and farms nearby.

Geography

Morristown has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa/Dfb) with hot, humid summers and moderately cold winters. Morristown is completely surrounded by Morris Township, making it part of 21 pairs of "doughnut towns" in the state, where one municipality entirely surrounds another. The downtown shopping and business district is centered around a square park, known as the MorristOWN Green. It is a former market square from Morristow's colonial days. The town has a population of 2,816. The city is located on the New Jersey Turnpike, which connects to New York City by the New York River. The Turnpix is located at the junction of the Raritan River and the Delaware River, and is a popular tourist destination. The Morristtown Green is one of the city's main landmarks. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the town's population to be 2,716. It has a total area of 3.01 square miles (7.79 km²), including 2.91 square miles of land and 0.10 sq miles (0.25 km²) of water (3.26%). The town is part of the Morris Township area of New Jersey, which is made up of the towns of Morris and Sussex counties. The population of Morris Township is 2,922. It also includes the town of Somerset, where the population is 1,715. The municipality has a land area of 2.1 square miles, including 2,91 square mile (7,53 km² of land) of land.

Demographics

As of the 2000 U.S. census there were 18,544 people, 7,252 households, and 3,698 families residing in the town. The racial makeup of the town was 67.63% White, 16.95% Black or black, 0.22% Native American, 3.77% Asian, 8.48% from other races and 3.36% from two or more races. 9.8% of Morristown residents identified themselves as being of Colombian American ancestry in the 2000 Census, the eighth- highest percentage of the population of any municipality in the United States. The median household income was $64,279 (with a margin of error of +/ $5,628) in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars. The per capita income for the borough was $37,573 (+/ $2,286). About 10.2% of families and 9.5% of the residents were below the poverty line, including 16.1% of those under age 18 and 8.8%. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.13. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 106.1 males. The average age was 34.8 years and the median age was 35.4 years. The town has a population density of 6,284.9 per square mile (2,426.6/km²) The 2010 United States census counted 18,411 people and 8,172 housing units at an average density of 2,789.6 per squaremile (1,077.1/ km²).

Economy

Morristown Medical Center, with 5,500 employees, is Morristown's largest employer. In a ruling issued in June 2015, Tax Court Judge Vito Bianco ruled that the hospital would be required to pay property taxes on nearly all of its campus in the town. Capsugel, Covanta Energy, Louis Berger Group, Schindler Group and the MorristOWN & Erie Railway, a local short-line freight railway and Honeywell are among the other companies based in the city. The town is home to the New Jersey Turnpike, which runs from New Jersey to New York and New York to Pennsylvania and New Jersey and New England to Pennsylvania. It is also the home of the New York State Psychiatric Center, which has more than 3,000 patients. The city's population is about 6,000. It has a population of 4,000, according to the city's 2010 census. It also has an unemployment rate of 2.7 percent, the lowest in the state. The unemployment rate is lower than the U.S. average, which is 2.4 percent. It's also the highest in New York state, with a rate of 1.9 percent. The state's economy is the second-largest in New Jersey, after New York. It was the No. 1 state in New England in 2013. The U.N. Census Bureau says the town's economy grew by 1.2 percent last year, the fastest in the Northeast. It had the highest unemployment rate in the United States.

Arts and culture

Morristown is home to four historic sites associated with the American Revolutionary War. It is the site of several Revolutionary War and Civil war monuments. The New Jersey Stampede are a professional inline hockey team that competes in the Professional Inline Hockey Association. Morristown has a cricketing club, the first in North America. It also has a museum, a theater, and a school for the blind and visually impaired. The town is also home to the U.S. Equestrian Team, the international equestrian team for the United States, which was founded in 1950 at the Coates estate on van Beuren Road in MorristOWN. The city is also the home of the Morris County Historical Society, a museum and a performing arts center. It was the site where the electric telegraph was first presented to the public, on January 11, 1838, by George Washington's son-in-law, Alexander Hamilton, and the Marquis De Lafayette discussing the arrival of French aid to the colonies. It has a number of other historic sites, including the Washington's Headquarters & Ford Mansion, a Revolution-era Georgian-style mansion used by Washington as his headquarters during the Jockey Hollow encampment, and St. Peter's Episcopal Church, a large McKim Mead and White church with bell tower, fine stained glass and medieval furnishings. The mayor of the town is Julian Zelizer, a former mayor of New York City who is now a member of the New Jersey State Assembly.

Historic sites

Morristown is home to the following locations on the National Register of Historic Places:Acorn Hall, Dr. Lewis Condict House, and Fordville Blacksmith Shop. Morristown National Historical Park is at junction of U.S. 202 and NJ 24 (added 1966) The town's school is at Junction of Whippany Road and Hanover Avenue, Morris Township (added 1996) The city's historic district is bounded by Lackawanna, Franklin Place, James Street, Ogden Place, Doughty, Mt. Kemble, Western, and Speedwell Avenues. The town also has a national park, which was added in 1966. It also has several historic homes, which were added in the 1970s and 1980s. The city is also home to a national historical park, and a national historic district. It has a number of historic houses, many of which have been added to the national register in the 1980s and 1990s. It is the home of the Morris County Courthouse, which is located on Washington St. between Court Street and Western Avenue (added 1977) It is also the site of a national history museum, which has been added in 1986. It was added again in the 1990s, and is now located on Franklin St. and Madison Avenue. It's also the location of the town's national historic park, added in 1996. It includes the National Historical Museum, which dates back to the 1920s and is located at the corner of Columbia Turnpike and Madison Ave.

Government

Morristown is located in the 11th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 25th state legislative district. As of 2022, the Mayor of Morristown was Democrat Timothy Dougherty, whose term of office ends December 31, 2025. Morris County is governed by a Board of County Commissioners comprised of seven members who are elected at-large in partisan elections to three-year terms on a staggered basis. In 2019, the wife of Mayor Tim Dougherty was criminally charged with accepting bribe money from Attorney Matt O'Donnell. Mary Dougherty pled guilty in February 2021 to a reduced charge of falsifying a campaign finance report in exchange for dropping the bribery charge. New Jersey is represented in the United States Senate by Democrats Cory Booker (Newark, term ends 2027) and Bob Menendez (Harrison, term end 2025). For the 2022-2023 session, the 25th Legislative District of the New Jersey Legislature isrepresented in the State Senate by Anthony M. Bucco (R, Boonton Township) and in the General Assembly by Brian Bergen (R) and Aura K. Dunn (R), both of whom are from Denville Township. In the 2016 presidential election, Democrat Hillary Clinton received 67.4% of the vote (498 votes ahead of Republican Donald Trump), with 11.6% of voters registered as Unaffiliated. The town is one of 71 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use the Plan F Mayor-Council system of government.

Education

Morristown has a regional public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. As of the 201819 school year, the district, comprised of 10 schools, had an enrollment of 5,216 students and 441.4 classroom teachers. The nine elected seats on the board of education are allocated based on the population of the constituent municipalities, with four seats assigned to Morristown. The Rabbinical College of America has a Baal Teshuva yeshiva for students of diverse Jewish backgrounds, named Yeshiva Tiferes Bachurim. The New Jersey Regional Headquarters for the worldwide Chabad Lubavitch movement is located on the campus. The Academy of Saint Elizabeth was founded in 1860 by the Sisters of Charity, but found itself in the Convent Station section of the adjacent Morris Township. The Assumption Roman Catholic is a grade school (K8) that operates under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson and was one of 11 schools in the state recognized in 2014 by the United States Department of Education's National Blue Ribbon Schools Program. The Delbarton School is an all-boys Roman Catholic school with approximately 540 students in grades seven through twelve, that began serving resident students in 1939 after having previously served as a seminary. The Red Oaks School, an independent private school founded in 1965, offers both Montessori and International Baccalaureate programs. In addition, Villa Walsh Academy is a private Catholic college preparatory school conducted by the Religious Teachers Filippini.

Transportation

As of May 2010, the town had a total of 39.98 miles (64.34 km) of roadways, of which 29.73 miles (47.85 km) were maintained by the municipality and 5.03 miles (8.10 km) by Morris County. The Whippany Line of the Morristown and Erie Railway, a small freight line, traverses the township. NJ Transit local bus service is offered from the rail station, Morristow Medical Center and Headquarters Plaza. Community Coach provides daily service between New York City and MorristOWN on bus route 77. Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark / Elizabeth is the closest airport with scheduled passenger service. While owned by the town, the airport is physically located in nearby Hanover Township, 3 miles east ofMorristown proper. The town's Department of Public Works operates "Colonial Coach", which provides free transportation within Morristtown. The closest public airport is New Jersey's Newark Liberty Airport, which is approximately 20 minutes away via Route 24 and Interstate 78. It is also 20 minutes from the town via Interstate 78 and Route 24/24/24 (or Interstate 78/24). The town is located on the New Jersey Turnpike, which runs from Long Island to New York. It also has a ferry link to the Port of New York, which connects to the New York Port of Long Island via Hoboken Terminal and Newark Broad Street. In 1999, the township was designated as one of the state's first five "transit villages".

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Morristown, Morris County, New Jersey = 34.5. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 27. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 10. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Morristown = 3.8 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 20,180 individuals with a median age of 38.9 age the population grows by 3.82% in Morristown, Morris County, New Jersey population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 6,937.1 residents per square mile of area (2,678.4/km²). There are average 2.47 people per household in the 7,381 households with an average household income of $71,666 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 7.10% of the available work force and has dropped -3.41% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 26.08%. The number of physicians in Morristown per 100,000 population = 324.9.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Morristown = 50.4 inches and the annual snowfall = 34.5 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 121. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 209. 85 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 18.1 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 49, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Morristown, Morris County, New Jersey which are owned by the occupant = 36.80%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 51 years with median home cost = $359,860 and home appreciation of -5.53%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $18.49 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $10,902 per student. There are 8.4 students for each teacher in the school. 5324.22% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 22.90% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 15.65% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).