Historians believe the work George Washington did to hold his forces together during the harsh winter of 1779-80 in Morris County, N.J., was crucial to sustaining the American war effort en route to winning the Revolutionary War.

And it means that Morris County and its seat, Morristown, were elevated to a place of honor in the national consciousness.

In 1933, Congress concurred, establishing the Morristown National Historic Park—the first reserve of its kind in the country. The historic-park designation did much to illuminate the importance of this northern New Jersey county—just an hour from New York City—during the formative years of the United States.

That historical importance still yields pride for locals and a significant tourist destination for anyone who ventures to Morristown.

Where It Started 
Early supporters of American independence, New Jerseyans were witnesses to more than 200 Revolutionary War skirmishes as French, British and American armies traversed the state numerous times.  Accordingly, Morristown is known as the Military Capital of the Revolution, having hosted Gen. Washington and the Continental Army during the 1779-80 winter and another two years prior.

In January 1777, Washington debated the mounting of an attack that could end the war or marching onward and away from the Redcoats. (He and his troops had just booted the British out of Princeton earlier that month.) Washington mulled the idea of launching an attack on New Brunswick, delivering a knockout blow to the main British supply depot only 19 miles away. But his 3,000 weary soldiers had been fighting for 40 hours, and they were cold, exhausted and famished. A little rest and regrouping sounded good. So they marched onward and on Jan. 6, they entered Morristown, putting the rustic village on the map.

Two winters later he returned with 12,000 troops, who built a log cabin city a couple of miles down the road in Jockey Hollow. Washington chose this time to stay at the grand Ford Mansion. During these two winters, the army rested, repaired its artillery, and restocked its munitions.  Local iron mines, furnaces and forges fabricated guns and musket balls for the army, and secretly and unlawfully produced gunpowder.  The soldiers were drilled and the generals planned their spring campaigns. 

In Morristown, the Continentals benefited from the surrounding mountains, which provided a haven from the British.  And the area was rich in natural resources such as water and forests, and it came with a patriotic population that helped feed and clothe the army. Now, more than 230 years later, those winter stays are not only a source of pride in hip Morristown, they help fuel the local economy through tourism, as some 350,000 visitors a year head for the historical park and the Ford Mansion, Fort Nonsense and Jockey Hollow sites.

Many prominent American Revolutionary figures visited Morristown during the two overwinters, including most of Washington’s generals. In addition, Alexander Hamilton and Martha Washington accompanied the general to Morristown. And the Marquis de Lafayette came to Morristown with the news that the French would be supporting the American army with money, ships and soldiers, thus making the prospect of American victory more realistic. (Historical footnote: Benedict Arnold was court-martialed in a Morristown tavern, and shortly after this humiliation, he began formulating his plot to aid the British by handing over West Point.)

After the Revolution
In the years following independence, the local economy began to evolve from agrarian enterprise to light manufacturing, complete with iron furnaces and forges that contributed to the pre-Industrial Revolution time period.

And Morristown was about to be revolutionary in another way.

During the early 1800s, the Vail family of Morristown supported Samuel F.B. Morse in developing the first electromagnetic telegraph, a device that forever changed the way people communicated. Known as the birthplace of modern telecommunications, this Speedwell Avenue property is part of the Morris County Park System and called Historic Speedwell. The story of telecommunications told here gives little known Alfred Vail—the inventor son of an industrialist and judge—his due. Samuel F.B. Morse conceived the idea for the machine in 1832 before meeting Vail three years later and nailing down financial backing from Vail’s father. Alfred Vail is credited with the mechanical workings of the telegraph that spelled out the messages being sent over the wire. Now a historic landmark site, the Speedwell Iron Works also produced the engine parts for the S.S. Savannah, which in 1819 became the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. 

Another important Morristown resident, George Perrot Macculloch, was fishing on Lake Hopatcong one day and realized that a canal system with locks could be built the width of New Jersey, from the Atlantic to the Delaware River, a distance of 102 miles. Macculloch spearheaded the effort to build the Morris Canal so that iron and farm products could travel from Pennsylvania to New Jersey.  Opened in 1831 and utilized for 100 years, the canal contributed to the success of New Jersey as an important manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution. His home, the Macculloch Hall Historical Museum, is both a historic house and museum of fine and decorative arts.  Serving as a prominent family’s residence for five generations, the Old House saw its share of politicians, military heroes, business entrepreneurs and artists.  Built by Macculloch beginning in 1810, Macculloch Hall uses one of the finest collections in New Jersey to represent the development of design, technique and aesthetic taste of America and England in the 18th and 19th century.

One of Macculloch’s neighbors was the nationally famous political cartoonist, Morristown resident Thomas Nast.  Nast’s drawings for Harper’s Weekly during the Civil War helped illustrate the war for millions who received war news from magazines and newspapers in a world before television, radio and the Internet.  Nast is known for his iconic drawings of Uncle Sam and Santa Claus, as well as the Donkey and Elephant that symbolize the two major American political parties.  Nast’s home is privately owned and is a national landmark.

There were other industrialists in and around the historic town. In fact, between 1880 and 1929, there were more millionaires living within a three-mile radius of Morristown than anywhere else in the country. The barons and bluebloods included names such as Colgate, Mellon, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt and Ballentine.

Parsippany resident and Mission furniture innovator, Gustav Stickley, a major proponent of the Arts and Crafts home building and furnishing, was also a Morris County resident.  The Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms, located in and owned by the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills, is Stickley’s former home. The log house, built in 1911, is one of the most significant landmarks of the American Arts and Crafts movement, and the site, which consists of 26 acres of the original 650-acre tract, has been designated a National Historic Landmark. Craftsman Farms is also an Official Project of Save America’s Treasures, a public-private partnership between the White House Millennium Council and the National Trust for Historic Preservation dedicated to the preservation of our nation's irreplaceable historic and cultural treasures.

Come to the County Seat
As with any government center, Morristown County Courthouse is a prominent structure. Built in 1827, it’s still in use as a courthouse, and its main courtroom is decorated and preserved as it was 180 years ago.  The long sticks that bailiffs used in the 19th century to maintain order in the courtroom still hang on the wall.  This courtroom held the 1833 trial of Antoine LeBlanc, a French immigrant who was tried and convicted of Morris County’s first and only triple murder.  LeBlanc murdered Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Sayre and their servant girl, Phoebe, now Morristown’s most famous girl ghost.  LeBlanc was sentenced to die by hanging on the Morristown Green.  He was hung there with onlookers numbering about 10,000.  The story is documented further in Weird, NJ.  Look it up.

Morris County Today
In addition to its many historical sites, Morris County is home to cultural institutions as well. As a vibrant educational and cultural center in New Jersey, the Morris Museum was recently awarded the Murtogh D. Guinness collection of 700 historic mechanical musical instruments and automata (mechanical figures) and more than 5,000 programmed media, ranging from player piano rolls to pinned cylinders. The extraordinary collection represents one of the most significant of its kind in the world. The museum also recently unveiled a permanent installation of the spectacular exhibition “Musical Machines & Living Dolls: Mechanical Musical Instruments and Automata from the Murtogh D. Guinness Collection” in a new, 4,300-square-foot gallery. The exhibition features more than 150 pieces from the collection and takes visitors on a journey through the history of on-demand musical entertainment.

Additionally, the New Jersey Shakespeare Theatre is one of 22 professional theaters in the state. As one of the leading Shakespeare theaters in the nation—serving 100,000 adults and children annually—it is New Jersey’s only professional theater company dedicated to Shakespeare’s canon and other classic masterworks. Through its productions and education programs, the company strives to illuminate the universal and lasting relevance of the classics for contemporary audiences. The annual Main Stage season, presented in the intimate, state-of-the-art F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre in Madison, runs May through December. An Outdoor Stage production is presented each summer at The Greek Theatre, an open-air amphitheater located on the College of Saint Elizabeth campus in nearby Morris Township.

Sharing of the classics is something Morristown and Morris County are well-versed in doing. For more information, contact www.morristourism.org or (973) 631-5151. For travel-planning assistance, contact www.AAA.com/travel.