Tag: NJ Historical Sites

Blairstown Museum 26 Main Street/ Friday the 13th Museum 27 Main Street Blairstown, NJ 07825 (Closed January 2023)

Blairstown Museum

26 Main Street

Friday the 13th Museum

27 Main Street

Blairstown, NJ 07825 (Closed January 2023)

(908) 362-1371

http://www.Blairstownmuseum.com

https://blairstownmuseum.com/

Open: Sunday-Thursday Closed/ Friday & Saturday 11:00am-5:00pm

Fee: Free but a donation is suggested

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46308-d11627031-Reviews-Blairstown_Museum-Blairstown_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

The Blairstown Museum closed in January 2023.

*To all you Friday the 13th fans, some sad news that I was out in Blairstown, NJ on Friday the 13th, October 2023 and found out from one of the downtown merchants that both the Blairstown Museum and the Friday the 13th Museum are both permanently closed. They were really nice museums when they were open. You can visit the Hope Historical Society in downtown Hope, NJ which is where the scene where Annie gets the ride from the trucker driver. It is open from 1:00pm-4:00pm on Sundays but has no Friday the 13th memorabilia in it. Just the history of Hope, NJ. Big sorry!

https://www.hopenjhistory.com/

Hope Historical Society 323 High Street Hope, NJ 07844

The Hope Historical Society in Hope, NJ.

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46518-d23805634-Reviews-Hope_Historical_Society-Hope_New_Jersey.html

The Blairstown Museum is a facility housing the history of the town of Blairstown and the surrounding area. The interesting part of this museum is that it is not run by the town but by a local couple, Janette and Frank Iurato, who moved to the area in 2013 and took an interest in the history of the town. The museum was founded in 2015 and opened in 2016. The museum is actually two different museums.

The first one is the Blairstown Historical Museum that covers the history of the town. This museum concentrates on the history of the founding of the town and the residents in it. While I was visiting, there was an interesting exhibition on the Blair Family who had married into the Charles Scribner Publishing family and a little history behind the two families. There was another exhibition on John Insley Blair, one of the residents and a self-made businessman and entrepreneur, for whom the town and the private school are named after.

The Howell and Dutot exhibition

Another exhibition was on local resident, Robert Parsons Howell, who had moved to Havana, Cuba at the turn of the last century. The exhibition was on the development of the early railroads. There was an exhibition on the early resort history of the area by the Delaware Water Gap by Hotelier Antoine Dutot, who ran the Kittatinny Hotel resort in the late 1880’s. The last exhibition was on the history and creation of Victorian furniture. The exhibition discussed how it was created and how it developed.

The museum has changing exhibitions

The second museum is across the street is the Friday the 13th Museum at 27 Main Street and that museum is dedicated to the movie “Friday the 13th” that was shot in the town in 1979.

The Friday the 13th Museum at 27 Main Street

This part of the museum is dedicated to the first film and subsequent films. The couple is collecting artifacts from the films (which there were not much since it was shot on location). On display are items signed by stars of the first film, Adrienne King and Ari Lehman, picture stills from the film and what I thought was interesting were the bar stools from the luncheonette from the second scene of the film and the original ‘Diner’ sign from the Blairstown Diner before the restaurant’s renovation.

“Friday the 13th” from 1980

What is also nice is that the Iurato’s have a small gift shop with items made by local artists that the have the iconic logo with the ‘Jason Mask’. This part of the museum opened on September 13th of 2019 and the ribbon cutting was done by various members of the cast and crew of the film.

The ‘Friday the 13th’ exhibition

Both of the museum’s are still collecting artifacts so support their collections but the Iurato family has done a nice job preserving the history of the town and dedicating a whole new branch of the museum to the “Friday the 13th” franchise.

The cast of the original 1980 film “Friday the 13th”

It is interesting as well to just walk around the town and recognize where the opening scenes of the film were shot. The museum is in the second scene of the film when ‘Annie’ does her walk around the town.

If you are a fan of the film, it is a fun place to stop by when visiting Blairstown, NJ.

The entrance of the Friday the 13th Museum

Please visit my blog on the Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library on the 35th Anniversary of the film “Friday the 13th” that we ran at the library in 2015:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/228

My opening discussion for the event before showing the film:

My interview with Lodi, NJ Donald Stein, who was a scout master who worked both at Camp NoBeBoCa and who assisted the Blairstown Fire Department on the film:

Don’t miss reading the blog on the event that we ran on November 13th, 2015.

The History of the Blairstown Museum:

(This information was taken from the museum’s website and I give them full credit for it)

When the Iurato family moved to Blairstown in 2013, they were surprised to find that the township did not have a museum honoring its founders. New residents did not have a central place where they could learn about the people and businesses that shaped the town’s past, how to be good stewards of Blairstown’s Historic District and the rural beauty left in their care.

Originally, the family’s intention for the property at 26 Main Street was to rent the first floor space to a business that would complement the Historic District’s businesses, add to the tourism appeal and increase the overall foot traffic of the area. They were overwhelmed by the amount of people that enthusiastically suggested they establish a museum.

Following eighteen-months of renovations, artifact collecting, historic research, networking with local historians and establishing a non-profit organization, the Blairstown Museum, located at 26 Main Street, opened to rave reviews. On October 1, 2016, nearly 600 people attended the Grand Opening Celebration. Since then, the Museum has offered hundreds of exhibitions, events, programs and tours and has received local, state and federal recognition.

Supported by “Friday the 13th” Franchise Fans, on September 13, 2019, the Museum opened a second location at 27 Main Street to house a year round Friday the 13th exhibition. The Grand Opening Ceremony was attended by Ari Lehman, Tom McLoughlin, Jason Brooks, Vincent DiSanti, Dave Brown and hundreds of fans.

The Museum’s Vision Statement:

In fulfillment of our mission, we have adopted the following Vision Statement: “The Blairstown Museum will be a vibrant social, cultural and economic centerpiece of the town and will be regarded as an entertaining and worthwhile tourist destination. The Museum will be a resource for residents, visitors, historians and educators. The Museum will preserve and catalog important objects and documents and will use those items to provide educational and cultural programs for the public.”

The Blairstown Museum

The Museum’s Mission Statement:

The Blairstown Museum’s mission is to acquire and collect; research and document; protect and preserve and exhibit and promote the unique history and heritage of the Township of Blairstown for the benefit of residents and visitors. Founded by the Iurato family and managed by a group of dedicated individuals, the Museum is house in a 19th Century building, known as the last remaining structure of “Roy’s Row”.

As the only independent public museum in the Township of Blairstown, the Blairstown Museum is an IRS Certified 501(c)(3), all volunteer, non-profit charitable organization tasked with the responsibility of caring for thousands of items which illustrate the history of the township and its inhabitants, including former resident and founder John Insley Blair. In an effort to help foster heritage tourism throughout the region, our collections are used to interpret the area’s history through permanent and changing exhibits and to educate the public about our history through programs, resource materials and events.

Blairstown Museum staff are charged with providing professional care to the collection, employing standards established by the American Alliance of Museums for the storage, care and exhibit of artifacts in its custody. Historic exhibits are on display on a rotating basis throughout the year. We are committed to expanding the digital display of our collection, in a manner that makes it available as a teaching tool for students, teachers and historians.

Disclaimer: This information on the Blairstown Museum was taken from their website and I give them full credit for the information.

The Introduction of the film from 1980 “Friday the 13th”:

Annie arrives in Blairstown:

Here are the sites from Downtown Blairstown, NJ.

These are some of the sites from the film in Downtown Blairstown, NJ in January 13th, 2023:

Downtown Blairstown, NJ:

Where Annie walked in the beginning of the film January 13th, 2023

The Blair Academy Park that Annie passed by in January 13th, 2023.

Downtown Blairstown, NJ on January 13th, 2023

Flatiron Building in the film

The Flatiron Building where Annie walked down the hill on January 13th, 2023

The Blairstown Water Building on January 13th, 2023.

Blairstown Water Building in the downtown

Walking through the Water Building where Annie walked.

The theater where Annie passed on her way to the cafe just below Blair Academy

The movie was showing on Friday the 13th January 2023

The Blairstown Historic District downtown

Downtown Blairstown, NJ

Blairstown Diner at 53 Route 94

https://www.blairstowndiner.com/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g46308-d848990-Reviews-Blairstown_Diner-Blairstown_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

The Blairstown Diner for Friday in 13th

The burgers at the Blairstown Diner are fantastic.

The Boonton Historical Society and Museum 210 Main Street Boonton, NJ 07005

The Boonton Historical Society and Museum

210 Main Street

Boonton, NJ 07005

(973) 402-8840

http://www.boonton.org

https://www.boonton.org/268/Boonton-Historical-Society

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46315-d19255529-Reviews-Boonton_Historical_Society_and_Museum-Boonton_Morris_County_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

The Boonton Historical Society at 210 Main Street.

I recently visited the Boonton Historical Society on the Main Street of downtown Boonton, NJ in a quickly changing new Arts Community. Up the hill, several galleries have found a home, and the downtown is filling up with cottage industries catering to both locals and artists.

The Historical Society covers the history of Boonton and its role in New Jersey history especially with the creation of the Morris Canal and the Iron works that once dominated the area until about WWI.

The munitions of the town’s foundries

The town saw much prosperity during the Civil War, providing ammunition and supplies to the Union Army. Many of the nails used during this period came their foundries. They also supplied munitions, pails, building materials and the transportation of raw iron out of the town. When technology and the way we build changed, the businesses here started to dry up. The use of the Train system and major highways also changed the transportation, it affected the town’s businesses.

Still the Boonton area is home to many historic homes, a section of the Morris Canal and the remains of the iron works that burnt to the ground decades ago. There is an interesting exhibition of the town’s Police Department in the lower level and now as part of the changing gallery space an extensive exhibition on the NJ Trolley system that once dominated the state.

The Boonton Historical Society and Museum at Christmas 2022

The Permanent Collection:

The permanent exhibition space studies the history of the town, telling the story of the town’s beginnings as a manufacturing town, growth of the canals and shipping and agriculture to its current destination as a Arts Community. The museum is small and can be seen in about an hour to two hours if you like to read.

Don’t miss the room to the right of the museum which covers the timeline of the town and its prominent residents. It tells the story of how the growth of the iron works, the building of the dam and the coming of the railroads and the trolley system changed the town and the growth of its population. There was the history of the Boonton Fire Department.

Take time to read the displays and look at the exhibitions behind the case lines.

The Old Boonton Downtown and homes

The permanent collection of the town’s history

Downstairs is another gift shop with many unique items at extremely reasonable prices and in the room next to it was a display on the history of the Boonton Police Department over the years.

Police Chief’s Desk

Display of Police memorabilia

Special Events:

I recently went to the Boonton Historical Society for the December 2019 Holiday open House and it was a very nice afternoon. They some local students playing the guitar, keyboards and the flute with engaging music and holiday songs. The Open House did not return again until 2022 in the post-COVID era and it was a very festive afternoon even if the weather did not want to cooperate. There was wonderful music, delicious food and warm conversation. I got to talk with many of the Board Members on events going on at the museum.

There were some light refreshments with hot and cold appetizers and Christmas cookies.

They had specials in their gift shops and featured ornaments, books and stuffed animals at a reasonable price and had 1960’s and 70’s Christmas albums playing on the lower level of the museum. In 2022, one of the Trustees played the piano for the entertainment that was very nice. It was a nice mini concert.

It was a nice afternoon treat and the society did a nice job welcoming people. There was food and entertainment and even a visit from Santa Claus.

Santa visited the Boonton Historical Society at the Christmas Open House in 2022

The members of the Boonton Historical Society Board of Directors at the Christmas Open House in 2022 could not have been better hosts

The gift shop is pretty extensive and offers lots of good deals on merchandise

Walking Tours:

The Historical Society also has some interesting walking tours of Boonton. In May 2021, I visited Boonton for a walking tour in conjunction with the Boonton Trail Committee of the Boonton Iron Works and the Morris Canal starting with a tour of Grace Lord Park and the falls. It was interesting how the town developed around the Iron Works and why they were created there.

Boonton Iron Works Site in Boonton, NJ

We toured the back trails of the park along the Rockaway River to the site of the former Iron Works which are in the process of being torn down for development. The tour guide gave us the history of the Iron Works and their role in pig iron development and how the canal played a role in the transport of the finished product to markets all over the country. These famous ruins are under threat of being torn down for development which would be a shame.

The Grace Lord Park Falls

The Grace Lord Park where the tour took place at the very edge of Downtown Boonton, NJ is an amazing little park at Essex Avenue and Main Street is an amazing little park. On a recent trip to Boonton for a walking tour of the Downtown architecture and history of the downtown I stopped in the park again that was decorated for a Halloween event for the community. It looks like it will be a lot of fun.

City Hall decked out for the holidays

In October of 2022, I went on a interesting walking tour lead by museum member and long time resident of Boonton, NJ Nancy Charlton Questa, who took us through the downtown and discussing the history and current use of many of the unique and detailed buildings of Downtown Boonton. For such a small town, it at one time had been a major mining and steel town with access to the canal system of New Jersey. It had a Opera House and a theater which is amazing for a downtown this size.

Downtown Boonton, NJ has many historical buildings

Many of the buildings in the downtown are currently going through a renovation and will reopen as new restaurants, theaters and retail shops as the town is becoming more “hipster” and ‘artist’ driven with new galleries opening up. There are now three coffee shops and three bakeries in the downtown area.

The top of the Downtown Boonton, NJ in the fall

Ms. Charlton Questa knowledge of the town as a life long member of the community brought a lot of insights to the walking tour of what was there when she was growing up until today. It blended very nicely with the current exhibition at the museum “Small Businesses of the Past”. This is on the history of the town’s business district businesses. I highly recommend this walking tour when it is offered again in the Spring.

The Civil War Monument next to a historical bank

The museum is only open once a week on Sundays from 1:00pm-4:00pm and is run by volunteers. If you want to see how the State of New Jersey grew from a series of small towns to bustling industrial areas to sleepy back towns and back, visiting the Boonton Historical Society and Museum is a must visit.

The Boonton Library next to Darress Theater in Downtown Boonton, NJ

The Boonton Opera House next to the old Boonton Firehouse

The top of Downtown Boonton, NJ in the fall

Gaylord Park at the edge of Downtown Boonton, NJ where we toured both the Downtown and the Ironworks

New Exhibitions:

The Boonton Historical Society in conjunction with the North Jersey Electric Railway Historical Society and Liberty Historic Railway present this exhibition on the Trolley era. This display will include scale models of various types of trolley cars which operated in New Jersey, along with streetcar memorabilia and artifacts such as operator’s uniform jacket/hats, badges, books, publications, post cards, photos, videos, lithographs, signs, posters, tickets, lanterns, hardware and more (Boonton Historical Society).

The History of Boonton, NJ in the early years

In the Winter of 2021, the Boonton Historical Society opened a new exhibition entitled “Small Businesses of the Past”, which was an interesting look at the way downtowns evolve with the times.

“The Small Businesses of the Past” exhibition

It showed the role that immigrants played in building the downtown merchants’ shops and how they catered to fellow immigrants who worked at the iron plant and on the canal. It also explained how families passed these businesses down from generation to generation over time.

The Bakeries in town

The exhibition showed the bakeries, banks, taxi services and pharmacies that make up any downtown in the State of New Jersey. It is interesting to see things old Christmas club accounts, prescription bottles and promotional items that are given out when you open a new account.

Things that might not be part of the shopping experience today.

The mustache cups of the barbers in the area.

The businesses of Downtown Boonton over the years

In 2023, the exhibition is entitled: “Say Yes To The Dress”: Ladies dress through the decades. A reflection of ladies’ dress through pieces of the permanent collection and the collection of members. The exhibit features wedding, party and day dresses worn by women from the 1880’s to the 1930’s. Also displayed was a assortment of accessories including hats, gloves and novelties.

The exhibit: “Say Yes To The Dress.”

The exhibit showcases ladies dress through the ages and a reflection on how things have changed over the years.

A close up at the dress collection.

Lady preparing herself for a night out.

Lady enjoying tea with favorite friend.

This dress was worn by Mrs. Ethella Salmon and donated by Lloyd Charlton. Ethella was the daughter in law of Congressman Joshua Salmon and had worn this dress to President McKinley’s inaugural ball in 1901.

The display to the right

The display to the left.

Wedding dresses through the ages.

The accessories in the show.

It really shows how Boonton, NJ has changed over the years and a new wave of immigration with Jamaican and Latino businesses opening up are again changing the make-up of the downtown today. Downtown Boonton is going through another resurgence with new art galleries, restaurants and stores opening up where these businesses of the past once stood.

The latest exhibition was on Boontonware, dish ware that was created and manufactured in Boonton until 1980. These colorful dishes which graced many New Jersey and beyond dinner tables were once manufactured in town. I remember these dishes from the early 1970’s when our family had a set of red flowered dishes that we ate all our meals on.

The Boontonware display of dish ware

The display of Children’s dishes

More items from the Children’s line of Boontonware

The colorful dishware made in Boonton, NJ

The portraits of the former owners of the home where the museum is located, Dr. & Mrs. John Taylor

A trip to Downtown Boonton, NJ:

Downtown Boonton, NJ

The Mission Statement of the Boonton Historical Society & Museum:

The Boonton Historical Society and Museum is a non-profit organization incorporation in 1959 located in the town of Boonton, New Jersey. Its mission is to:

*Preserved and protect the town of Boonton’s unique cultural, architectural and industrial history.

*Preserved and share the area’s rich history, folklore, arts and humanities of the past and present.

*Encourage preservation and restoration of historic landmarks in the town.

*Protect and display the museum’s collections.

*Provide educational programs, guided historical tours and exhibitions to a diverse population.

The History of Dr. John Taylor House 210 Main Street Boonton, NJ (Home of the Museum):

The building was originally a private home built for Dr. John Taylor and his wife, Adelaide T. Kanouse. John L. Kanouse gave his daughter and her husband this lot as a Christmas present in 1897. Most likely, it was an enticement to get his family to move closer to him because they had been living in Succasunna and Mount Arlington where Dr. Taylor had practiced medicine for 15 years. The Taylor’s returned to Boonton and had the brick house built. Dr. Taylor continued his medical practice there.

In 1901, Adelaide’s parents came to live with them until her father died in 1905 and her mother in 1908. John L. Kanouse was one of Boonton’s most prominent citizens and was a successful businessman. He operated a food and supply store on Main Street, a coal yard on the Morris Canal and a modest farm between Kanouse and Roessler streets. He was elected Superintendent of Public Schools and held the office for twenty years. He served in the State Legislature and Board of Chosen Freeholder and as Associate Judge of Morris County and Tax Collector of Boonton.

Dr. Ellery Peck worked with Dr. Taylor in the building as an associate for seven years. Then in 1917, Dr. Peck went to serve in WWI and Dr. Taylor moved to Chula Vista, CA. After the war, the returning soldiers formed American Legion Post #124. Dr. Peck was one of the trustees of the Legion Post. He negotiated with the Taylor’s to purchase the building from the Post and dedicated it as a permanent memorial to veterans and a home for Post #124.

In 1922, the Town offices were moved from the Maxfield Fire House on Main Street to the John Taylor house. The Legion Post and the Town shared this building for 43 years until the present Town Hall was built in 1965. Since that time, the Boy Scouts, Civil Defense and Parking Authority have also used the building, having five floors there was enough room for everyone.

The Legion also offered space to the Boonton Historical Society. On November 11, 1980, the Society opened its museum on the second floor. This arrangement continued for ten years until Town Fathers deemed the building unsafe and it was closed to the public.

The building sat idle until the Committee to Save the John Taylor Building sought funding to renovate the building. That funding came from several sources. The largest portion came from a state grant but there were also sizable donations from the American Legion Post #124 and the Boonton Historical Society. More money came from individuals who were interested in seeing this portion of Boonton’s history kept alive and retained by the Town. The renovations were completed by professional tradesman and a few tireless volunteers. The building reopened in May 1997.

The original building had two triangle dormers on the top floor and a porch at the back of the main floor. They were removed sometime during the 1960’s. That work did solve the problem of a leaking roof but unfortunately, it made the building ineligible for designation to the historic register. Another mistake was made when the building was painted to solve the problem of leaking bricks. That mistake was undone when a civic group, Boonton’s United Community Effort, held a raffle to earn money to have the paint chemically removed and the bricks repointed.

The John Taylor House

Today, the building is shared by the American Legion and the Historical Society and Museum. The Town Fathers generously pay the expenses of the building and for that were are grateful (Boonton Historical Society).

Disclaimer: This information was taken from the Boonton Historical Society pamphlet and I give them full credit for the information.

Doo Wop Preservation League Museum 4500 Ocean Avenue Wildwood, NJ 08260

Doo Wop Preservation League Museum

4500 Ocean Avenue

Wildwood, NJ 08260

(609) 523-1975

https://www.facebook.com/Doo-Wop-Preservation-League-The-Wildwoods-NJ-128130849267/

Open: Friday-Saturday 10:00am-2:00pm/ Closed Sunday-Thursday

Fee: Free but they ask for a donation

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46931-d283304-Reviews-The_Doo_Wop_Preservation_League_Museum-Wildwood_Cape_May_County_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

The Doo Wop Preservation League Museum at 4500 Ocean Avenue.

I visited the Doo Wop Preservation League Museum when I was visiting Wildwood, NJ for the Firemen’s Convention. They were sponsoring the DJ on the stage behind the museum. It was easy to miss the museum with all the fire equipment around it and hundreds of firemen milling around.

The neon signs in front of the Doo Wop Museum.

The old neon hotel signs outside the museum

Once inside, this small museum is a treasure trove of history of the resort motels that once lined the beaches of Wildwood, Wildwood Crest and North Wildwood. As time rolls on, many of these old motels, hotels and restaurants are giving way to condos, newer homes and new chain hotels changing the landscape of Wildwood. It is bringing it into modern times with newer looks.

The restaurant section of the Doo Wop Museum

When many of these motels are torn down, the establishments donate old furnishes, decorative objects and signs from the outside to the museum. The outside of the museum is decorated with signs of businesses that are now closed, there neon lights still shining but for a different purpose. These somewhat gaudy and over-grandised signs and looks were of a time of great optimism and travel. Since the middle and working class families did not have the money to travel to these exotic places, something similar was created for them in the Wildwoods bringing that look to the Jersey shore.

The restaurant section of the Doo Wop Museum

The neon room of the 1950’s

When talking to the curators , a couple that ran the museum said that the museum represents the change in décor used after WWII when they used the neon lights and steel from the war into the signs and lighting of the new resorts. It was a unique style of the late 1950’s and 60’s, when these materials were plentiful and motel owners were getting creative to bring in the rising middle class tourists that could not afford the trips to Hawaii and Miami Beach. These owners brought these themes to Wildwood with a creative twist. Check out the signing and furniture that lines the walls and dining set ups of the museum.

The old neon signs of the hotels in Wildwood, NJ.

The museum is small and takes only about an hour to walk through. Each of the vignettes are designed as its own room with furnishings from old hotels and motels like tables, chairs, lamps and ashtrays in one corner, in another are stools, a jukebox and menus from a 50’s or 60’s style restaurant or items used at the time like bicycles or scooters.

The interesting preservation by the museum shows all over

The History of the Doo Wop Museum:

The Doo Wop Preservation League was founded in 1997 as a 501C3 to preserve the 1950’s and 60’s architectural styles of the Wildwood’s. Doo Wop style is a combination of Space Age dreams of the late 60’s and the exotic seaside tropics of recently opened South Seas Islands like Hawaii which became out 50th State in 1959. The Polynesian look was very ‘in’ at this time as most people could not afford to go but wanted to replicated for them.

The signs of the museum beacon visitors.

The museum is housed in the 1960’s ‘Space Age’ restaurant “The Surfside” that was saved from the wrecking ball and moved to this spot right across the Convention Center and the Boardwalk. On Tuesdays and Thursdays when in season (i.e. Warmer Months), there are bus tours offered by the museum. The museum’s goal is catalogue the remaining businesses in town that still keep their look of the era (Museum website and The Wildwooder Newspaper).

Don’t miss the museum tours:

The best part is that the museum is free (donation suggested) and you can take your time for a self-guided tour of the museum.

YouTube videos on the museum

What a great little museum!

Morris Museum 6 Normandy Heights Road Morristown, NJ 07960

Morris Museum

6 Normandy Heights Road

Morristown, NJ 07960

(973) 971-3700

https://morrismuseum.org/

Open: Sunday 12:00pm-5:00pm/Monday Closed/Tuesday-Saturday 11:00am-5:00pm

Fee: Adults $10.00/Children (3-18) & Seniors $7.00/Children under 3 & Active Military & Members Free

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60906-d3179939-Reviews-Morris_Museum-Morristown_Morris_County_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

The front of the Morris Museum

The old Mansion part of the museum

This was the second time I visited the Morris Museum and on every trip I learn something new. The first time I had visited the museum it was right after the movie ‘Hugo’ had opened which was a story that involved the automata (moveable animals and people mechanical objects) so my dad and I toured the permanent exhibit and then toured the rest of the museum.

The Guinness Galleries of Automata

The gallery of Automata

When I arrived at the museum at 2:00pm recently, the museum was having a talk and a demonstration on the automata and musical boxes and that was very interesting. These mechanical wonders have been around since the 1300’s being perfected in the Arabic countries by clockmakers and craftsmen at the time.

The exhibition galleries

The movie “Hugo”

The lecture was on how they were constructed and perfected over time to make them more reasonable to a growing market and how they were replaced when phonographs, radios, record players and tapes gradually progressed to change the market and make them obsolete.

A old Victrola record player

We got to hear an example of each of the objects and it was fascinating that during the Industrial Revolution how paper rolls changed the cost of these objects making them available to all classes. Today’s talking dolls and music boxes are descended from these innovative items.

The Automata at the Morris Museum

The fancy music boxes

Amusing children’s toys

The beautiful French workmanship

The beautiful pieces from the 1800’s

After the talk, I walked around the Museum to see parts of it that I had not visited on my last trip. For a small suburban museum, the museum is packed with all sorts of artifacts from Native American art to dinosaur relics and fossils found in the State of New Jersey.

The Dinosaur Room

Dinosaur femur

Dinosaur eggs

In the original Frelinghuysen Mansion section of the museum, you can visit the Dodge Room which was dedicated to Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge, a great patron of the Arts. The room contains vintage furniture and paintings and shows what the room may have looked like when the Frelinghuysen’s lived here.

The Dodge Room at the Morris Museum

The portrait of William Rockefeller

The museum also had really interesting exhibits from travelling shows including the Artist Alan Feltus exhibition of paintings

The Artist Alan Feltus exhibition

https://morrismuseum.org/on-view/current/alan-feltus-a-painters-painter

Artist Alan Feltus is an American figurative painter whose paintings present a series of contrived interior vignettes that simultaneously use a casual familiarity of contemporary life while arranging the figures and their surroundings with a precision and order from a bygone artistic tradition (Morris Museum website).

The Feltus exhibition in May 2025

There was another exhibition that I visited that afternoon by the Artist James Prosek “At Work”.

https://morrismuseum.org/on-view/current/james-prosek

Some of the works by James Prosek

Works from the Prosek exhibition

Works from the Prosek exhibition

One of my favorite pieces from the collection

Some of the sculpture pieces from the Prosek exhibition

There is a lot to see and do at the museum for all ages and if none of these appeal to you there is also the theater. The Morris Museum has a lot to offer everyone.

The Museum Mission:

The Morris Museum celebrates art, science, history and the performing arts by providing engaging exhibitions and programs, all of which are designed to excite the mind and promote cultural interests. The Museum strives to educate, entertain and inspire diverse audiences of all ages, abilities and backgrounds (Museum site)

History of the Museum:

(from the Museum website)

In 1913, objects collected for display in a curio cabinet at the Morristown Neighborhood House formed the beginning of the Morris Museum Collection. Originally known as the Morristown Children’s Museum, education has been an intrinsic part of the Museum’s mission from the start. Mrs. Aldus Pierson, the Museum’s first head worker, introduced children to world cultures through the exploration of cultural artifacts. Generous donors began giving Mrs. Pierson interesting objects that they had acquired in their travels around the world. By 1927, the collection had expanded to seven rooms encompassing the first floor of the Neighborhood House’s annex. Displays included the world and children’s toys.

In 1938, the Museum moved to the Maple Avenue School building and shared space with the Morristown Board of Education and the Morris Junior Colleges until 1956. This enabled the Museum to enhance its programs for children and establish a link between its offerings and the curricula of area schools. This strong educational focus developed and continues to the present. The museum was incorporated in 1946, and its collections and services continued to expand. During this time, the Museum was at the forefront of presenting new trends in museum education through the modern use of dioramas, panels and niches. The outreach education program began in 1950 with in-school presentations to eight Morris County school including talks about American Indian culture.