With the kids home from camp and a few more weeks to go before school starts, now is a great time to enjoy some of our area’s amazing historic sites. Your kids will have so much fun exploring these outdoor attractions, they might not even realize that they’re spending a summer day learning.
Fosterfields Living Historical Farm
This property in Morris Township has been a working farm since 1760. It was purchased in the mid-1800s by the grandson of Paul Revere, and was later sold to Charles Foster, who named it Fosterfields. Foster’s daughter, Caroline, lived there until her death in 1979 at the age of 102. In 1972, she donated Fosterfields to the Morris County Park Commission, to be preserved as a “living historical farm,” the first in New Jersey. Fosterfields is a working farm, not a replica, so the people working on the farm use the tools, techniques and materials of a turn-of-the century farm. Guests can participate in many of the daily farm activities that took place in the 1920s, including visiting the farm animals, witnessing the farmer planting the fields using antique machinery and helping to perform daily tasks, such as collecting eggs and grinding corn to feed the chickens. You can take a tour of the Fosters’ home, The Willows, an elegant Gothic Revival mansion built in 1854, as well as the farmhouse where the farm’s foreman lived. There is also a transportation exhibit, featuring antique automobiles.
On Sunday, September 18, Fosterfields will host its annual 1920s Country Fair and Harvest Festival from noon until 5 p.m. Visitors will have the chance to enjoy live music; take a wagon ride around the farm; visit the horses, cows, sheep, pigs and other animals and participate in interactive activities throughout the farm, such as churning butter and pressing apple cider.
Morristown’s Revolutionary History
Morristown is known as “the militia capital of the American Revolution” for the role it played in the fight for our nation’s independence. At its heart lies Morristown National Historical Park, the country’s first National Historical Park, which has over 500,000 artifacts in its museum, archives and library collections. The park has 27 miles of designated hiking trails, ranging in difficulty from easy to moderate. Printable maps are available at www.morrisparks.net.
For a unique tour of some of Morristown’s most notable historic sites, mark your calendar for the “Discovering Morristown’s Revolutionary Past” guided tour on Sunday, August 28. In celebration of the National Park Service’s 100th birthday, this hike will tell the story of the Continental Army’s encampments in and around Morristown. The hike begins at 10 a.m. on the Morristown Green at “The Alliance,” a statue depicting George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and the Marquis de Lafayette meeting in Morristown in 1780. Among the stops on the tour is the Schuyler-Hamilton House, where Elizabeth Schuyler lived while she was being courted by Alexander Hamilton, whom she would later marry. At the end of the hike, participants are encouraged to visit Washington’s Headquarters Museum or take a tour of the Ford Mansion. One of the earliest house museums in the United States, the Ford Mansion served as George Washington’s headquarters during the winter of 1779. The house is furnished to reflect how it might have appeared during Washington’s stay, and can only be viewed on guided tours.
