The Morris County Park Commission (MCPC) is a board of commissioners that manages parks, facilities, and historic sites in

Morris County, New Jersey Morris County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey, about west of New York City. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the county's population was enumerated at 509,285,

. It is the largest county park system in New Jersey. Russel Myers was its first Secretary-Director and Director, serving the system from 1955 until 1983.THE MORRIS COUNTY PARK COMMISSION DISTRIBUTION OF PARK COMMISSION JUNE 28, 2021 MEETING MINUTES
/ref> The MCPC provides the public with more than for recreational, leisure, and educational use. As of May 2022, it operates 38 facilities include outdoor parks, trails, a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

, an

ice skating Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be per ...

arena, a

horse stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

, a historical farm, and an operating mill.

History

Morris County was not first of its kind nor unique. It likely followed in the footsteps of other local park commissions. For example, New York City's Central Park Commission was founded in 1856; Hudson County Park Commission was created in 1892; and the Essex County Park Commission was created in 1895. Circa 1955, the Morris County Planning board recommended the creation of a Park Commission to the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders. The goal of the commission was to provide attractive

recreation area A recreation area is a type of protected area designated in some jurisdictions. By country Canada In the province of British Columbia, recreation areas are lands set aside for recreational use. These lands are also being evaluated to determine w ...

s, as well as aid traffic problems and protect limited water resources. Passage of a voter

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

in 1956 formally established a Morris County Park Commission, and this was reported upon in ''American City''. Its first leader was Secretary-Director Russel W. Myers, a

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...

. That year, the

Garden Club of America The Garden Club of America is a nonprofit organization made up of around 18,000 club members and 200 local garden clubs around the United States. Founded in 1913, by Elizabeth Price Martin and Ernestine Abercrombie Goodman, it promotes the record ...

announced an alliance with the Morris County Park Commission's mission of "acquiring land, preserving natural areas, ndprotecting watersheds and streams from pollution." In March of 1958, the 350-acre Lewis Morris County Park in Morristown was the first park to be dedicated by the MCPC. As of 2021, it has expanded to 2,196 acres with 22.1 miles of trails. The park alone includes "hiking, off-road biking, and equestrian trails picnic areas athletic fields, a dog park, group camping areas sledding, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing" and, in the summer, the Sunrise Lake Beach Club, a water obstacle course, a flume, paddleboat riding, and fishing. The park was named for

Lewis Morris Lewis Morris (April 8, 1726 – January 22, 1798) was an American Founding Father, landowner, and developer from Morrisania, New York, presently part of Bronx County. He signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a delegate to the Continen ...

, the first

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official res ...

(according to some sources) while it was part of Britain's

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of Kingdom of Great Britain, British Colony, colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Fo ...

. Since 1962, the Morris County Park Commission developed buffer areas and programs to protect the Great Swamp from urban development. The following, the Morris County Park Commission constructed a nature education center on part of the of the

Loantaka Brook Reservation The Loantaka Brook Reservation is a nature reserve and public park in the United States, American state of New Jersey in Morris County, New Jersey, Morris County. It consists of five miles of nature trails for jogging, hiking, and biking. Seaton ...

. Circa 1973, Myers, a

and MCPC's Secretary-Director, had weekly tea for years with Morristown farmer Caroline Foster. In 1973, they arranged for Foster to bequeath her farm estate to the MCPC. In 1974, farmer Caroline Foster designated in her will that Fosterfields would be bequeathed to the MCPC for use as an educational farm and historic site. Upon Foster's death in 1979, the Park Commission received the farm. In 1979, Myers announced that the commission was opposed to the proposed alignment of

Interstate 287 Interstate 287 (I-287) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the US states of New Jersey and New York. It is a partial beltway around New York City, serving the northern half of New Jersey and the counties of Rockland and Westchester in N ...

. This was due to the environmental detriment to the Sunset Valley Golf Course as well as

noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...

and drainage issues created by the proposed road. In 1983, the Russell M. Myers Scholarship was established, named for the first Secretary-Director and later Director of the MCPC. In July 2020,

WKXW WKXW (101.5 FM, "New Jersey 101.5") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Trenton, New Jersey. It is owned by Townsquare Media. Its studios and offices are located in Ewing and its broadcast tower, which is shared with WPRB, is l ...

and ''InsiderNJ'' reported that Morris County parks saw increased use since Governor

Phil Murphy Philip Dunton Murphy (born August 16, 1957) is an American financier, diplomat, and politician serving as the 56th governor of New Jersey since January 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the United States ambassador to Germa ...

reopened parks during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In 2019, the Morris County Park Commission announced their intention to create a recreational trail looping around the

Boonton Reservoir The Boonton Reservoir is a reservoir located between Boonton, New Jersey, Boonton and Parsippany–Troy Hills, New Jersey, Parsippany–Troy Hills, New Jersey. Boonton, along with nearby Splitrock Reservoir, provides water for Jersey City, New ...

, a source of clean drinking water for over 300,000 people. Circa 2021, the Morris County Park Commission received the permit. The MCPC expects to break ground in the trail's creation in 2022. In 2021, the MCPC unanimously voted "aye" to create improvements to Lewis Morris County Park in Harding Township. The area receiving improvements is dedicated to Russel Myers, titled the Russ Myers Recreation Area. The "halfmile

ADA Accessible The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 19 ...

loop trail encircling the area...will have an 8’ wide paved surface, a picnic shelter with electricity to accommodate 200 people, landscaping for screening and beautification, and additional parking to accommodate increased capacity, including ADA parking." The estimated cost is $904,730.00.

List of parks

The below parks and historic sites are overseen by the Morris County Park Commission.

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://www.morrisparks.net/ County government agencies in New Jersey County parks departments in the United States 1956 establishments in New Jersey Government agencies established in 1956 Morris County, New Jersey