Morristown National Historical Park

	Morristown National Historical Park
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	U.S. National Historical Park
	New Jersey Register of Historic Places
	Ford Mansion, Washington's headquarters in Morristown, New Jersey
Location	In and around Morristown, New Jersey
Coordinates	40°47′47″N 74°28′0″W / 40.79639°N 74.46667°W
Area	1,711 acres (6.92 km2)
Built	1744
Architectural style	Georgian, Cape Cod
NRHP reference No.	66000053
NJRHP No.	3381
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 15, 1966
Designated NHP	March 2, 1933
Designated NJRHP	May 27, 1971

Morristown National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park, headquartered in Morristown, New Jersey, consisting of four sites important during the American Revolutionary War: Jockey Hollow, Ford Mansion, Fort Nonsense, and Washington's Headquarters Museum.

The sites are located in Morristown and Harding Township, both in Morris County, and in Bernardsville in Somerset County.

With its establishment on March 2, 1933, Morristown became the country's first National Historical Park. On October 15, 1966, citing its significance in archeology, architecture, and military history, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.^[3]

Sites

Jockey Hollow, a few miles south of Morristown, New Jersey along Route 202 in Harding Township, was the site of a Continental Army encampment. It was from here that the entire Pennsylvania contingent mutinied and later, 200 New Jersey soldiers attempted to emulate them.^[4]

Fort Nonsense occupied a high hilltop overlooking Morristown, and is believed to have been the site of a signal fire and earthworks.

Ford Mansion in Morristown was the site of the "hard winter" (December 1779 – May 1780) quarters of George Washington and the Continental Army. That winter remains the coldest on record for New Jersey. Theodosia Ford, widow of Jacob Ford Jr., and her four children shared their household with Washington, his staff, including Alexander Hamilton, their servants and sometimes their family members. Martha Washington traveled from Mount Vernon to Morristown to spend the winter with her husband.

Washington's Headquarters Museum, the adjacent museum is open to the public Wednesday thru Sunday from September–June and seven days a week from July- August from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM. The museum has three exhibit rooms and a sales area. A video production, Morristown: Where America Survived (New Jersey Network, 2009) is shown. The Ford Mansion is shown only by guided tour, which begins in the museum.

The New Jersey Brigade Encampment Site is located south of Jockey Hollow in Bernardsville in Somerset County. It was the encampment for approximately 1,300 Continental Army soldiers over the 1779-1780 winter.

Park history

In April 1932, the National Park Service (NPS) published a report recommending that the site of the Continental Army's winter encampments in 1776-77 and 1779-80 become a Federal Historical Reserve; the report recommended including two sites, Jockey Hollow and the Ford Mansion.^[5]

In January 1933, a conference including NPS representatives, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, and civic and business leaders from the Morris County area, drafted a bill supporting the creation of a national historical park,^[5] with "the rank and dignity equal to the scenic program in the West."^[6]

The bill for creating the Morristown National Historical Park was submitted to Congress in mid-January (H.R. 14302; S. 5469) and was supported by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ray Lyman Wilbur, who called it "the most important park project before this department at the present time."^[5]

In March 1933, in the last days of Herbert Hoover's presidency, the 72nd Congress established Morristown as the country's first National Historical Park.^[5]

References

^ "National Register Information System – (#66000053)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
^ "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Morris County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. December 20, 2022. p. 15.
^ Torres-Reves, Ricardo (October 1978). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Morristown National Historical Park". National Park Service. With accompanying 21 photos
^ Flexner, James Thomas (April 1984). Washington: The Indispensable Man. p. 154. ISBN 9780451156433.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Expansion of the National Park Service in the 1930s". Administrative History. National Park Service. March 14, 2000.
^ Hosmer, Preservation Comes of Age, I: 516-21, and Interview of Verne E. Chatelain by Charles B. Hosmer, Jr., December 17, 1971 (Manuscript on file at Harpers Ferry Center)

External links

[nris-1] "National Register Information System – (#66000053)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.

[NJRHP-2] "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Morris County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. December 20, 2022. p. 15.

[nrhpdoc-3] Torres-Reves, Ricardo (October 1978). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Morristown National Historical Park". National Park Service. With accompanying 21 photos

[4] Flexner, James Thomas (April 1984). Washington: The Indispensable Man. p. 154. ISBN 9780451156433.

[npshist-5] "Expansion of the National Park Service in the 1930s". Administrative History. National Park Service. March 14, 2000.

[6] Hosmer, Preservation Comes of Age, I: 516-21, and Interview of Verne E. Chatelain by Charles B. Hosmer, Jr., December 17, 1971 (Manuscript on file at Harpers Ferry Center)

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v t e George Washington
1st President of the United States (1789–1797) Senior Officer of the Army (1798–1799) Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army (1775–1783) Delegate to the Second Continental Congress (1775) Delegate to the First Continental Congress (1774)
Military career Revolutionary War	Military career French and Indian War Jumonville Glen Battle of Fort Necessity Battle of the Monongahela Forbes Expedition Washington in the American Revolution Commander-in-chief, Continental Army Aides-de-camp Washington's headquarters office and sleeping tent Boston campaign Siege of Boston New York and New Jersey campaign Delaware River crossing Battle of Trenton Battle of the Assunpink Creek Battle of Princeton Philadelphia campaign Battle of Brandywine Battle of Germantown Battle of White Marsh Valley Forge Battle of Monmouth Battles of Saratoga Sullivan Expedition Yorktown campaign Siege of Yorktown Culper Spy Ring Newburgh Conspiracy Newburgh letter Asgill Affair Evacuation Day Resignation as commander-in-chief Badge of Military Merit Purple Heart Washington Before Boston Medal Horses Nelson Blueskin
Other U.S. founding events	Initiated, co-wrote, 1769 Virginia Association Initiated, 1774 Fairfax Resolves Continental Association Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture 1785 Mount Vernon Conference Chairman, 1787 Constitutional Convention George Washington's political evolution
Presidency (timeline)	1788–89 United States presidential election First inauguration inaugural bible 1792 presidential election Second inauguration Reception at Trenton Title of "Mr. President" Cabinet of the United States Secretary of State Attorney General Secretary of the Treasury Secretary of War Judiciary Act of 1789 Oath Administration Act Nonintercourse Act Whiskey Rebellion Militia Acts of 1792 Coinage Act of 1792 United States Mint Presidential Succession Act of 1792 United States Capitol cornerstone laying Proclamation of Neutrality Neutrality Act of 1794 Jay Treaty Pinckney's Treaty Slave Trade Act of 1794 Residence Act Thanksgiving Proclamation Farewell Address State of the Union Address 1790 1791 1792 1793 1796 Cabinet Federal judicial appointments John Rutledge Supreme Court nominations
Views and public image	Presidential library The Washington Papers Religious views Washington and slavery Town Destroyer Legacy
Life and homes	Early life Birthplace Ferry Farm boyhood home Mount Vernon Fishery Gristmill Whiskey distillery Woodlawn Plantation Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site Ford Mansion, Washington's headquarters Hasbrouck House First Presidential Mansion Second Presidential Mansion President's House, Philadelphia Germantown White House Custis estate Washington's relations with the Iroquois Confederacy Potomac Company James River and Kanawha Canal Mountain Road Lottery Congressional Gold Medal Thanks of Congress President General of the Society of the Cincinnati Washington College Washington and Lee University Electoral history of George Washington Post-presidency of George Washington
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Related	Bibliography List of articles Founders Online Founding Fathers of the United States Republicanism Federalist Party Federalist Era Virginia dynasty Coat of arms Cherry-tree anecdote River Farm Washington's Crossing Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route 1751 Barbados trip Category Syng inkstand General of the Armies Conway Cabal American Foxhound American Philosophical Society American Revolution patriots Betsy Ross flag Mount Vernon Ladies' Association Mount Vernon replicas George Washington Memorial Building Attempted theft of Washington's skull
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Slaves	List Betty Caroline Branham William Costin Sarah Johnson Oney Judge William Lee Hercules Posey Christopher Sheels Deborah Squash Harry Washington
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v t e New Jersey in the American Revolution
1776	Turtle Gut Inlet New York and New Jersey campaign Fort Lee Geary ambush Iron Works Hill Delaware River crossing First Trenton
1777	Assunpink Creek (Second Trenton) Princeton Millstone Forage War Bound Brook First Middlebrook encampment Short Hills Red Bank Gloucester
1778	Quinton's Bridge Monmouth Baylor Massacre Affair at Little Egg Harbor Chestnut Neck Second Middlebrook encampment
1779	Paulus Hook Jockey Hollow New Jersey Brigade encampment
1780	Connecticut Farms Springfield Bull's Ferry
1781	Pennsylvania Line Mutiny
1783	U.S. Capital at Princeton
Other	Fort Billingsport Fort Mercer Mary Hays ("Molly Pitcher") New Bridge Landing Pluckemin Cantonment Temperance Wick
See also: Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area, Morristown National Historical Park, Washington Crossing State Park

Authority control databases
International	VIAF WorldCat
National	United States 2 Israel

Sites

Park history

See also

References

External links