Most of Morris was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1946 on, and old-book passages.
Morris was originally called Springdale, and under the latter name was first settled about 1840 by a colony of German Catholics. The name was changed to Morris in 1856. A post office called Morris has been in operation since 1858. The center of community life is St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church which was founded in 1856 and which is, as of February 2025, the scene of an investigation into a possible eucharistic miracle. The church also built a grade school in 1861 where many of the residents of the community attended until the school closed down in 1977.
Passages that mention Morris, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Morris County, New Jersey1914 · page 195Read the page →
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of Hanover from the township of Rockaway; thence southwesterly along said line to the point or place of beginning, is hereby set off from the said township of Rockaway, and shall from and after the passage of this act, constitute and be known as “The Township of Denville, in the County of Morris;’’ and the inhabitants of the said township of Denville are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate and shall be governed by the same general laws as other townships in said county of Morris. — (Session Laws of 1913, chap. 352, p. 769.)
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A history of Morris County, New Jersey1914 · page 220Read the page →
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The largest and most important institution is the College of St. Elizabeth which lies also partly in Morris township at Convent Station on the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western railroad, that station being in Morris township. This large and well known institution of the Roman Catholic Church was formerly known as St. Elizabeth’s Academy and was established in Newark, New Jersey, by the Sisters of Charity of that diocese. They were not well located in Newark, and finally succeeded in purchasing from Bishop Bayley the “Chegaray Mansion” on the Madison and Whippany road,
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authorized the company to " locate, construct and complete, maintain and operate a railroad from the town of Lane (now Rochelle), in the county of Ogle, to the town of Oregon in same county: from thence to the town of Mount Morris: from thence on the most eligible and direct route to or near the town of Mt. Carroll, in the county of Carroll; from thence to the Mississippi river." The company was also empowered to construct said railroad east from Oregon to the city of Chicago. The capital stock was fixed at one million dollars, divided into shares of one hundred dollars
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authorized the company to " locate, construct and complete, maintain and operate a railroad from the town of Lane (now Rochelle), in the county of Ogle, to the town of Oregon in same county; from thence to the town of Mount Morris; from thence on the most eligible and direct route to or near the town of Mt. Carroll, in the county of Carroll; from thence to the Mississippi river." The company was also empowered to construct said railroad east from Oregon to the city of Chicago. The capital stock was fixed at one million dollars, divided into shares of one hundred dollars
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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