Towns of Morris County

Morris County, New Jersey

The original land grant for the area that now constitutes New Jersey was made by King Charles II of England to his brother James the Duke of York on March 12 1664. The Duke of York, in turn, granted it to two proprietors, John Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret on June 24 1654. Sir Carteret was born on the Isle of Jersey, Channel Islands, in 1599.

Lord Berkeley and Sir Carteret, as proprietors, divided New Jersey into two separate but vaguely defined sections, East Jersey and West Jersey. It wasn't until July 1, 1676 that the sections were more clearly defined. The Board of Proprietors of East Jersey continued to own land as a stock company until 1998, (yes, 1998).

The Proprietors of East Jersey which dissolved in 1998, was the oldest corporation in New Jersey, dating back to 1654. The dissolution of this company presented some problems for the court system since it had been incorporated under laws that predated the "State".

Morris County was separated from Hunterdon County by act of the General Assembly passed March 13 1738, and Sussex County was taken from Morris in June, 1753. (Sussex County was later divided into Sussex County and Warren County, so you can see that the original Morris County was extremely large.)

Beginning of the 21st century (2000) Morris County is composed of 39 Municipal Subdivisions.
Beginning of the 20th century (1900) Morris County had 25 Municipal Subdivisions.
Beginning of the 19th century (1800) Morris County had 7 Municipal Subdivisions (Hanover, Morris, Pequannock, Chester, Mendham, Roxbury and Washington Townships).
Beginning in 1740 Morris County had 3 Municipal Subdivisions (Hanover Twp., Morris Twp., and Pequannock Twp.)

Municipal Subdivisions and Common Place Names
Also check the listing of Place names found in the 1868 Beers Atlas Index

Town Information & Directories

Directories

Morris County Directory, for 1875-6, containing the names of the inhabitants of Morristown, Dover and Boonton, together with a Business Directory of the Principal Towns of Morris County, and much other miscellaneous information.

Morris County

Morris County Poor House Information

Indian Place Names in New Jersey

Chester

Notes from Chester NJ A Scrapbook of History by Frances Greenidge

Dover

Dover [School] District No. 1, 1853

Dover School List 1856

Time Line from Dover Dates

Morris Plains

Notes from A History of Early Morris Plains by Julia Beers

Pequannock

Pequannock Town Officers 1741-1751