What to See in Morristown - Top Sights and Attractions

Arboretum in Morris Township, New Jersey. The George Griswold Frelinghuysen Arboretum is an arboretum located at 353 East Hanover Avenue, Morris Township, New Jersey. It is open daily without charge. It is also the headquarters of the Morris County Parks Commission.

The arboretum features thematic collections of plant life, including ornamental grasses, spring-blooming shrubs and perennials, summer shrubs and cutbacks, fall fruit and foliage, shade trees, and a garden called the "promising plants garden" which has underused plants supplied by nurseries, growers, and breeders. In front of the large main house there is the Great Lawn, a large gently sloping manicured grassy expanse in the style of an English county manor landscape; it is the site of outdoor concerts in the warmer months. There are different nature and horse trails. There is a Braille Nature Trail in a small wooded hollow just off the Great Lawn which was designed for hands-on exploration. The Kathryn A. Porter "Branching Out!" Garden is worked on by children ages 5–13 during a spring after-school and summer program; the course of study includes cooking and crafts. Participants grow vegetables, herbs, and flowers to take home. The Patriots' Path is a network of hiking, biking, and equestrian trails and green open spaces, and links to other parks in New Jersey.^[2]

Fosterfields, also known as Fosterfields Living Historical Farm, is a 213.4-acre farm and open-air museum located at the junction of Mendham and Kahdena Roads in Morris Township, New Jersey. Listed as the Joseph W. Revere House, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 20, 1973 for its significance in art, architecture, literature, and military history.

United States Navy officer, adventurer and author Joseph Warren Revere, a grandson of Paul Revere, helped to design "The Willows", a Carpenter Gothic-style mansion built on his farm in 1854 after his first retirement. The American Civil War broke out in 1861; during the conflict Revere commanded a regiment and then a brigade in the Union Army then lived on the farm during his second retirement, while recovering from ill health and severe wounds suffered at the Second Battle of Bull Run. After the war, Revere travelled widely, returning often to The Willows to rest and write, until 1872. A few years later Charles Grant Foster, a New York commodities broker, purchased the property, developing it into a cattle farm entitled "Fosterfields." His daughter, Caroline Rose Foster, grew up on the property and embraced the physical farm life, enjoying woodworking and fishing, writing about progressive politics and philanthropy.

The land was donated to the Morris County Park Commission in 1974 by Caroline Foster. The boundary was increased on October 9, 1991. It was listed as a contributing property of the Washington Valley Historic District on November 12, 1992.^[5]

Mansion in Morristown, New Jersey. Acorn Hall is an 1853 Victorian Italianate mansion located at 68 Morris Avenue in Morristown, Morris County, New Jersey. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 3, 1973, for its significance in architecture. It serves as the headquarters of the Morris County Historical Society, which operates Acorn Hall as a historic house museum.

Named for the two-centuries-old oak tree formerly standing on its property, Acorn Hall was built in 1853 by the Schermerhorn family as a simple four-room over four-room farmhouse. Following the death of Mrs. Schermerhorn in 1854, Dr. Schermerhorn put the house and its contents up for sale. It was purchased in 1857 by the Augustus Crane family of New York. The Cranes in 1860 had the house enlarged and remodeled in the then-fashionable Italianate Villa style. After being passed down through several generations, the house was given to the Historical Society in 1971 by Mary Crane Hone. Historians have recognized Acorn Hall for its authentic mid-Victorian era furnishings, primarily pieces from the Schermerhorn and Crane-Hone families, supplemented with significant objects from other prominent Morris County families of the 19th century. Carpeting, wall coverings, and decorative paint techniques remain as they were in the nineteenth century.

Acorn Hall also offers an exhibit gallery with changing exhibits highlighting various aspects of Morris County history and Victorian culture.

In addition to the National Register of Historic Places, Acorn Hall is on the New Jersey State Register, and is part of the New Jersey Women's Heritage Trail, in recognition of the importance of the Crane and Hone women in both preservation and the women's suffrage movement. The grounds are also connected to the Morris County Park Commission's Patriot's Path system of trails.^[7]