Morris Plains is a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

in Morris County, in the U.S. state of

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 6,153, an increase of 621 (+11.2%) from the 2010 census count of 5,532, which in turn reflected an increase of 296 (+5.7%) from the 5,236 counted in the 2000 census. Morris Plains was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 15, 1926, from portions of Hanover Township, based on the results of a referendum held on April 15, 1926.Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 195. Accessed May 30, 2024. The borough's name comes from Lewis Morris, colonial governor of New Jersey. Morris Plains serves as a bedroom community, with many residents traveling to work in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The Morristown Line of NJ Transit provides commuters with direct access to New York Penn Station and to Hoboken Terminal.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the borough had a total area of 2.59 square miles (6.71 km²), including 2.55 square miles (6.61 km²) of land and 0.04 square miles (0.09 km²) of water (1.35%). Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Littleton. The borough borders the Morris County municipalities of Hanover Township, Morris Township and Parsippany-Troy Hills.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Morris Plains has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 5,532 people, 2,131 households, and 1,485 families in the borough. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was 2,163.5 per square mile (835.3/km²). There were 2,197 housing units at an average density of 859.2 per square mile (331.7/km²). The racial makeup was 89.44% (4,948)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 2.73% (151) Black or African American, 0.09% (5) Native American, 4.97% (275) Asian, 0.00% (0)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1.07% (59) from other races, and 1.70% (94) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.68% (314) of the population. Of the 2,131 households, 32.3% had children under the age of 18; 61.3% were married couples living together; 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present and 30.3% were non-families. Of all households, 24.9% were made up of individuals and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.12. 24.8% of the population were under the age of 18, 4.7% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 28.5% from 45 to 64, and 16.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.1 years. For every 100 females, the population had 93.5 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 89.4 males. The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars)

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...

was $103,688 (with a margin of error of +/− $12,744) and the median family income was $127,614 (+/− $20,257). Males had a median income of $91,908 (+/− $21,398) versus $67,232 (+/− $24,331) for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the borough was $45,165 (+/− $10,332). About 0.4% of families and 9.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including none of those under age 18 and 0.6% of those age 65 or over.

2000 census

As of the 2000 United States census there were 5,236 people, 1,955 households, and 1,477 families residing in the borough. The population density was . There were 1,994 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the borough was 92.91%

, 1.34%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.06% Native American, 4.32% Asian, 0.10%

, 0.40% from other races, and 0.88% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 2.69% of the population.Census 2000 Profiles of Demographic / Social / Economic / Housing Characteristics for Morris Plains borough, New Jersey
,

. Accessed December 19, 2012.DP-1: Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000 - Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data for Morris Plains borough, Morris County, New Jersey
,

. Accessed December 19, 2012. There were 1,955 households, out of which 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.0% were married couples living together, 7.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.4% were non-families. 19.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.05. In the borough the population was spread out, with 23.5% under the age of 18, 4.4% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 26.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The average age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.6 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $84,806, and the median income for a family was $98,333. Males had a median income of $75,040 versus $44,554 for females. The

for the borough was $36,553. About 1.5% of families and 2.4% of the population were below the

, including 3.0% of those under age 18 and 2.4% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

The borough has been a major base of operations for Pfizer, previously the headquarters for Warner-Lambert. Pfizer has sponsored the Health and Medical Science Academy at Morristown High School and an annual 5k race around Morris Plains. In 2012, a property owned by Pfizer on the west side of Route 53 was acquired by M&M Realty Partners, which plans to redevelop the site for a mixed use development that would include 500 housing units and for retail use. In 2015, Honeywell moved into a headquarters on a campus, after relocating from AlliedSignal headquarters in Morristown.

Government

Local government

Morris Plains is governed under the

form of New Jersey municipal government, which is used in 218 municipalities (of the 564) statewide, making it the most common form of government in New Jersey. The governing body is comprised of the mayor and the borough council, with all positions elected at-large on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. The mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The borough council includes six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year in a three-year cycle.''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'', Rutgers University Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, March 2013, p. 121. The borough form of government used by Morris Plains is a " weak mayor / strong council" government in which council members act as the legislative body with the mayor presiding at meetings and voting only in the event of a tie. The mayor can

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president (government title), president or monarch vetoes a bill (law), bill to stop it from becoming statutory law, law. In many countries, veto powe ...

ordinances subject to an override by a two-thirds majority vote of the council. The mayor makes committee and liaison assignments for council members, and most appointments are made by the mayor with the advice and consent of the council. , the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Morris Plains is Democrat Jason C. Karr, whose term of office ends December 31, 2026. Members of the Borough Council are Council President Salvatore F. "Sal" Cortese (R, 2026), Art J. Bruhn, Jr. (R, 2026), Bill Houston (D, 2027), Michael Ivey (D, 2025), Tyler J. Pontier (D, 2027), and Nancy Verga (D, 2025).Governing Body
Borough of Morris Plains. Accessed April 26, 2023. "The Borough of Morris Plains was incorporated by the State Assembly on January 15, 1926 and operates under a Borough form of government. The Borough form of government consists of a Mayor and six council members all of whom are elected at-large. The Mayor is the head of the governing body and is elected to a four-year term. Council members to a three-year term." The Morris Plains Municipal Court judge is Michael A. Carlucci.

Police Department

The Morris Plains Police Department has 17 sworn officers. The command structure has a chief, two lieutenants, five sergeants, nine patrolmen and six civilians. They are dispatched through the Morris County Communication Center who dispatches for the police, fire and first aid departments. The police department handled over 29,000 calls for the year 2010.

Morris Plains Fire Department

The Morris Plains Fire Association was established on April 28, 1907, after the Weise Hotel Fire of 1906.

Federal, state and county representation

Morris Plains is located in the 11th Congressional DistrictPlan Components Report
New Jersey Redistricting Commission, December 23, 2011. Accessed February 1, 2020. and is part of New Jersey's 26th state legislative district.Municipalities Sorted by 2011-2020 Legislative District
New Jersey Department of State. Accessed February 1, 2020.''2019 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government''
New Jersey League of Women Voters. Accessed October 30, 2019.

Politics

As of March 2011, there were a total of 3,935 registered voters in Morris Plains, of which 853 (21.7%) were registered as Democrats, 1,695 (43.1%) were registered as Republicans and 1,381 (35.1%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 6 voters registered as Libertarians or Greens. In the 2012 presidential election, Republican Mitt Romney received 53.3% of the vote (1,659 cast), ahead of Democrat

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

with 45.9% (1,429 votes), and other candidates with 0.9% (27 votes), among the 3,142 ballots cast by the borough's 4,140 registered voters (27 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 75.9%. In the 2008 presidential election, Republican

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

received 52.3% of the vote (1,725 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 45.8% (1,511 votes) and other candidates with 0.8% (27 votes), among the 3,297 ballots cast by the borough's 3,994 registered voters, for a turnout of 82.5%. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

received 55.9% of the vote (1,783 ballots cast), outpolling Democrat John Kerry with 42.8% (1,365 votes) and other candidates with 0.8% (31 votes), among the 3,191 ballots cast by the borough's 3,921 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 81.4. In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 70.8% of the vote (1,399 cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 27.9% (551 votes), and other candidates with 1.4% (27 votes), among the 2,025 ballots cast by the borough's 4,122 registered voters (48 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 49.1%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 58.6% of the vote (1,337 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat Jon Corzine with 31.5% (719 votes), Independent Chris Daggett with 8.4% (191 votes) and other candidates with 0.4% (10 votes), among the 2,283 ballots cast by the borough's 3,898 registered voters, yielding a 58.6% turnout.

Education

The Morris Plains Schools educate public school students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. As of the 2023–24 school year, the district, comprised of two schools, had an enrollment of 601 students and 66.3 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.1:1.District information for Morris Plains School District
National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024. Schools in the district (with 2023–24 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Mountain Way School with 209 students in grades PreK–2 and Morris Plains Borough School with 391 students in grades 3–8. Students in public school for ninth through twelfth grades attend Morristown High School, as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Morris School District which also serves the communities of Morristown and Morris Township (for grades K–12). As of the 2023–24 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 1,856 students and 137.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.5:1. St. Virgil Academy, founded in 1910, was a Catholic school serving students in preschool through eighth grade (including Pre-K–3 and Pre-K–4) that operated under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson. The school was closed at the end of the 2015–2016 school year in the wake of declining enrollment and the rising costs of covering the school's deficits.

Transportation

Roads and highways

, the borough had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Morris County and by the New Jersey Department of Transportation. U.S. Route 202, New Jersey Route 10 and New Jersey Route 53 are the main highways serving Morris Plains. Interstate 80 and

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

are both accessible in neighboring Parsippany-Troy Hills Township.

Public transportation

NJ Transit provides service at the Morris Plains station on the Morristown Line to Newark Broad Street Station, Secaucus Junction, New York Penn Station and Hoboken Terminal. The one-story red brick station house, constructed in 1915 in Renaissance Revival style, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 22, 1984. NJ Transit provides local bus service on the 872, 875 and 880 routes, replacing service that had been offered on the MCM2, MCM3 and MCM10 routes until 2010, when subsidies to the local provider were eliminated as part of budget cuts.

TV and movies

* In ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

'' episode "Made in America", Phil Leotardo is shot to death at a Morris Plains Raceway gas station, located on route 10, before being run over.

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Morris Plains include: Edward Mosberg

The Dillinger Escape Plan - Wacken Open Air 2017 11

* Darron Collins (born 1970), human ecologist and academic administrator specializing in ethnobotany, who became president of the College of the Atlantic in 2011 * Michael Dogbe (born 1996), defensive end for the Arizona Cardinals * William Perry Fogg (1826–1909), author and adventurer * Robert Martin (born 1947), State Senator who represented the 26th Legislative District from 1993 to 2008 * Richard Aldrich McCurdy (1835–1916), attorney, business executive and banker who was president of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York from 1885 to 1906 * Charley Molnar (born 1961), former head football coach at the University of Massachusetts Amherst * Edward Mosberg (1926-2022), Polish-American Holocaust survivor, educator and philanthropist * Carol J. Murphy (1932–2011), member of the New Jersey General Assembly from 1992 to 2000 * Suzanne Scott (born 1965/66), CEO of Fox News * Gustav Stickley (1858–1942), furniture manufacturer, design leader, publisher and the chief proselytizer for the

American Craftsman American Craftsman is an American domestic architectural style, inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, which included interior design, landscape design, applied arts, and decorative arts, beginning in the last years of the 19th century. ...

style * Louis A. Thebaud (1859–1939), businessman, sportsman and philanthropist in the Gilded Age * Jay Webber (born 1972), Assemblyman who has represented the 26th Legislative District since 2008 and had served as Chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee * Elizabeth Weed (born 1940), feminist scholar, editor and university administrator who was the cofounder of the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women * Ben Weinman (born 1975), of the band The Dillinger Escape Plan * Arthur Whitney (1871–1942), politician who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature and was the Republican nominee for Governor of New Jersey in 1925 * Paul Zimmerman (1932–2018), football sportswriter for ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' King, Peter
"In wake of signing/trade frenzy, a reminder: Free agency is overrated"
, ''

'', March 9, 2010. Accessed January 13, 2011. "This was the enjoyable part of the weekend: having lunch with Paul Zimmerman and his wife Linda in Morris Plains, N.J., Saturday."