MANY FACES OF MORRIS COUNTY AND BEYOND
NEW JERSEY WOMEN’S HERITAGE
Experience the many faces of Morris County and its surrounding areas to visit the historic sites and attractions that depict and honor the accomplishments of women who helped shape the country. Along the way, enhance your journey with roadside attractions and must-see extras that embrace women’s history and demonstrate how New Jersey is unlike any other state in the country.
Simply follow our two-day New Jersey Women’s Heritage: Many Faces of Morris County and Beyond travel itinerary. To access more details about each historic site, be sure to click the links throughout to learn more.
Day 1: Union and Morris Counties
Spend the morning wandering the gardens at Reeves-Reed Arboretum, where Ellen Biddle Shipman, an early and influential landscape architect, worked to on one of the first garden designs. Enjoy lunch at one of the many restaurants along Springfield Avenue in Summit. From there, travel the short distance to Morristown and take a tour of Acorn Hall, where you’ll learn about the impact of generations of Crane family women in the community’s cultural life. A few blocks away, visit the Ford Mansion at Morristown National Historical Park, George Washington’s headquarters in 1779. Theodosia Johnes Ford, widow of Colonel Jacob Ford, Jr., managed the house and hosted General Washington following her husband’s death in 1777.
Looking to extend your trip? Stay in one of the historic inns in Basking Ridge or Summit.
Day 2: Morris County
Begin your day at Jockey Hollow, site of the Continental Amy encampment of 1779-1780 and part of the Morristown National Historical Park. While at the park, visit the Wick House, where Tempe Wick was said to have hidden the family horse on the second floor during an attempted mutiny at the encampment. Head into Morristown to enjoy lunch at one of the many restaurants near the historic Morristown Green before visiting Fosterfields Living History Farm. Tour the farm and “The Willows,” the Gothic Revival house built by Paul Revere’s grandson and home to Caroline Foster for ninety-eight years. Learn about her long life there, her contributions to Morristown culture, and stories of the Irish immigrants who served the family.
THERE'S MORE TO SEE AND DO: EXTEND YOUR STAY AND ADD THESE STOPS
Visit Macculloch Hall Historical Museum where generations of Macculloch-Miller family women were involved in several community organizations promoting social and artistic causes. The women dedicated their time to church, charities, the arts, and civic service, as well as household management. While you are in the area, stop at the Bridget Smith House Museum, the last known mine worker's dwelling in the region purchased by Bridget Smith in 1879 for $300 and rented to “widows of the mines.”
MORE WAYS TO EMBRACE WOMEN'S HISTORY
Drive by the Summit Playhouse in Summit where founder Marjorie Cranstong Jefferson served as theater director, and the Papermill Playhouse in Millburn, co-founded by poet and playwright, Antionette Schudder.
DISCOVER NJ
New Jersey history is everywhere, hidden away on quiet back roads, right out in plain sight, in urban areas, country towns and villages, and along the Jersey shore. Historic sites across the state tell intriguing stories of New Jersey’s diverse, inventive, creative, and revolutionary people. History is alive and waiting for you. View Additional Resources