Routes to Roots Heritage Trail
Morris Museum
Founded in 1913, the Morris Museum celebrates creativity in the arts, sciences, theatre and history with a focus on education. Its collections are varied, showcasing everything from natural history and art, to an impressive ethnographic collection comprised of ancestral figures, shields and utilitarian objects from the Sepik River Region of New Guinea. Significant pieces include a 17-foot Asmat ancestor pole and large elaborately decorated ancestral figures. Africa is also well represented with ceremonial and household artifacts including ancestral figures, masks and tools. The Museum is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; and Sunday 1-5 p.m. Admission to the museum is $6 for adults and $4 for children, students and senior citizens.
Morris Museum
6 Normandy Heights Road
Morristown, NJ 07960
Phone: 973.971.3700
Fax: 973.538.0154 |
E-mail: ktauriello@morrismuseum.org
http://www.morrismuseum.org/
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The Grimes Homestead
This house, constructed in the late 18th century, was home to the Grimes family, a Quaker family active in the New Jersey Underground Railroad and antislavery movement. Dr. John Grimes (1802-1875), the most noted antislavery advocate in the family, was born in the house. Grimes had served as the editor of The New Jersey Freeman and had once been arrested for harboring a runaway slave. Today, the Grimes Homestead is a private residence, and only available for exterior viewing.
http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/underground/nj1.htm
The Grimes Homestead
4 Craven Road
Mountain Lakes, New Jersey
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Hero's Lot
Not much is known about Hero Bull. What is known however, has been derived mainly from two documents; his manumission papers and his will. There is clear evidence in his will, dated in 1828, that he was formerly a slave but had been freed. Hero was also the owner of two real estate properties, a five-acre lot in Mountain Lakes and a 7.11 acre lot about five miles away in Rockaway Neck. Both properties came to be known as "the Hero Lot(s)." There is no record of how the freed slave came into the possession of the Mountain Lakes property. However, we do know that he purchased the Rockaway Neck property from George D. Brinckerhoff and his wife in 1823, and that it was subsequently sold by Hero's heirs in 1879. Hero's heirs also sold the Mountain Lakes property to the Morris and Essex Railroad Company. One acre was originally sold to the company in 1866, and the remaining acreage was purchased by the company in 1868. A train station was eventually erected on the property in 1912 as an Erie Lackawanna train stop. Today, the former train station is now home to The Station Restaurant, providing a casual fine dining experience since its renovation in August 1999. (more)
The Station at Mountain Lakes
99 Midvale Road
Mountain Lakes, NJ 07046
(Ph) 973-335-5330
(F) 973-335-4062
http://69.13.85.23/thestation
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Charles Fern Hopkins (1842 - 1934)
Born May 16, 1842 in New Hope, NJ, Charles Fern Hopkins was an passionate Abolitionist, humanitarian, soldier, and public official. During his youth, Hopkins aided his father's Underground Railroad work, transporting runaway slaves from one community to another, as well as using the family's Powerville Hotel in Boonton, NJ, as a safe house for fugitive slaves. Hopkins' account of his Underground Railroad experiences appeared in the 1910 publication Boonton: Gem of the Mountain, an account that identified individuals and communities that were part of the Underground Railroad's operation in the Boonton area. Hopkins later entered service in the U.S. Army from Trenton, NJ, where he later earned The Medal of Honor during the Civil War for heroism on June 27, 1862 at Gaines' Mill, Virginia. Corporal Charles Hopkins was one of seven soldiers cited for heroism in action against Confederate forces in Gaines Mill and was honored for voluntarily carrying a wounded comrade, under heavy fire, to a place of safety. Though twice wounded in the act, he continued in action until he was severely wounded. After his honorable discharge from service, Hopkins went on to become a state assemblyman, mayor, postmaster, and fire chief of Boonton. After a full life of bravery and heroism, he later died at the age of 91 on February 14, 1934. Hopkins is buried in the Greenwood Cemetery in Boonton, NJ. His family's Powerville Hotel though weathered by time, is still standing today.
Greenwood Cemetery
107 Essex Ave
Boonton, NJ 07005
(973) 334-5252
For information regarding viewing the site of the Powerville Hotel, please contact
Boonton Historical Society
210 Main St
Boonton, NJ 07005
(973) 402-8840
http://www.boonton.org/Community/HistoricalSociety.htm
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County History and Resource Organizations
Morris County Historical Society
68 Morris Avenue
Morristown, NJ 07960
Work: 973-267-3465
Fax: 973-267-8773
E-Mail: acornhall@juno.com
Arts Council of the Morris Area
163 Madison Avenue, 5th Floor
Morristown, New Jersey 07960
(973) 285-5115
(973) 285-1199 FAX
info@morrisarts.org
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