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MORRIS IN PASSAIC COUNTY

When completed in 1831, the canal extended THE 102 miles across the rugged Highlands of New n 1824 the Morris Canal & Banking Company was Jersey, from Phillipsburg on the , Ichartered to build a canal that would carry coal uphill to its summit level at Hopatcong, and mined in to developing markets along then down to at Jersey City. the eastern seaboard. The canal would pass through To accomplish this, a system of 23 lift locks and the heart of ’s iron district and provide the 23 inclined planes was built to overcome the im- long-needed transportation system that would create pressive elevation change of 1,674 feet. The ca- new commercial activity and enable rustic settlements nal’s famous water-powered inclined planes were like Stanhope and Dover to grow into thriving indus- an engineering marvel that enabled canal to ABOVE: Cedar Grove Road entrance to the trial towns. be raised or lowered up to 100 feet at a time. Little Falls Morris Canal Bikeway. RIGHT: In what became Passaic County in 1837, Walking along the former canal towpath in Pompton Aquatic Park, part of the the canal company Passaic County Park System.

built an equally impres- sive 17.5-mile level that took the canal across two major

PENNSYLVANIA and around the Watchung without a change in elevation. At Little Falls the canal crossed the on a massive brownstone , and at View a six-mile-long feeder brought addition- al water to help fi ll the canal and allowed canal boats to The route of the Morris Canal stretched across travel north to Pompton . New Jersey for 102 miles from Phillipsburg at the Mule-drawn canal boats transporting up to 70 tons to New York Harbor at Jersey City. of cargo took fi ve days to cross the state. In the heyday of the canal, hundreds of boats carried everything from coal and iron ore to agricultural products. The canal promoted commerce and shaped the economic development of the northern part of the state.

In Clifton, the Morris Canal paralleled Broad Street and passed through what was once open farmland. Although the farms are gone, the gambrel-roof farm house seen above still stands along Broad Street as a reminder of Clifton’s rural past. To the right a can be seen that allowed the farmer access to his fi eld on the other side of the canal.

THE MORRIS CANAL REENWAY IN G PASSAIC COUNTY For years Passaic County communities have been working independently to preserve their historic Morris Canal sites. The goal of the new Morris Canal is to bring these projects together into a county-wide history and recreation pathway.

1987 – Clifton Morris Canal Park is established. 1994 – Little Falls creates the Morris Canal At Little Falls, a great stone aqueduct carried the canal 60 feet above Park along Main Street in its down- the Passaic River. After many years of service the aqueduct was town business district. demolished when the canal was abandoned in the 1920s. 1998 – Little Falls completes the Morris Canal However, by the early 1900s the canal had become bikeway from near Main Street at obsolete. In the early 1920s, after almost 100 years of Lower Notch Road to Stewart Avenue. service, a plan was adopted to close and dismantle the 2006 – Woodland Park receives a county open space grant to design a Morris canal. The ownership of the canal’s vast water resources Canal Greenway . including , and 2011 – Little Falls completes Morris Canal Greenwood Lake passed to the State of New Jersey. Bikeway along Wilmore Road to the Today, the Morris Canal Greenway project, a state- Peckman Preserve and Cedar Grove wide partnership among local communities, nonprofi t Road to Main Street. organizations and historical societies like the Canal So- 2011 – Clifton Morris Canal Park is dedicated as Morris Canal Park & Jack W. ciety of New Jersey, seeks to preserve and interpret the Kuepfer Sr. Preserve. historic remains of the canal and create opportunities for 2011 – Passaic County Planning Board adopts public recreation. ■ feasibility study as Master Plan element. 2012 – Passaic County receives federal grant At Mountain View, the Erie Lackawanna Railroad – Boonton to complete all on-road greenway Line crossed the Morris Canal Pompton Feeder on a counter- improvements in Paterson and Clifton. weight lift bridge.

The Morris Canal Greenway in Passaic County is an ongoing effort to create a passive At the northern end of the Pompton Feeder a guard recreational pathway along the allowed canal boats to pass from the river into the canal. route of the historic Morris Canal. Woodland Park Municipal Building & Alfred H. Baumann Free Public Library

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In areas where the canal has been destroyed or where there is no public access, please use adjacent local streets to reach the next section of the Greenway Path.

Passaic County Pompton Pompton Aquatic Park Feeder Lock and

Wayne Township P o Riverside m Park

p t o Route of the Morris Canal Greenway n Greenway R Greenway under construction i District v Areas with no public access or where the e Wayne trail is not yet complete r Commission Alternate route along public roads & sidewalks Property Off-Street Parking Street Parking Trail Head Historic Site

East Main Street POMPTON PASSAICCR-631 FEEDER COUNTY Paterson

North Jersey District Water Supply MORRIS CANAL Commission Passaic Lock 14 Property County East Garret Wayne Township Mountain North Cove Park Reservation

Lincoln Mountain Woodland Park View Park

Passaic County Rifle Camp Exit 53 Park – Woodland Park ver Morris Canal Walkway assaic Ri P – Thomas E. May Park

Clifton Little Falls Morris Canal Little Falls Bikeway Inset

Morris Canal Park & Jack – Little Falls Morris Canal Park W. Kuepfer Sr. Nature – Little Falls Memorial Park Preserve – Little Falls Morris Canal Bikeway THE MORRIS CANAL GREENWAY – Passaic County Peckman Preserve tarting in 1831 the 102- Greenway project plans to turn the former route of the Nutley The Little Falls mile-long Morris Canal canal into a recreation corridor that will hikers Morris Canal Park provides a became one of New Jer- and bicyclists instead of canal boats. pleasant walk along the route of Inclined S the canal from the Main Street Plane sey’s fi rst major transportation In 2011, the Passaic County Department of Plan- business district to a Passaic River 11 East systems. Since then the canal ning and Economic Development completed a feasibil- overlook near the former site of the has been overshadowed, fi rst ity study that identifi es a proposed Morris Canal Gre- canal’s great stone aqueduct. by railroads, then by interstate enway along the former route of the canal through six highways. Fortunately, in many Passaic County communities, including the boroughs of places the route of the canal has Pompton Lakes and Woodland Park, cities of Clifton not been obliterated. It is now and Paterson, and both Little Falls and Wayne town- listed on the New Jersey and ships. The study has been adopted as an element of the National Registers of Historic Passaic County Master Plan. Places. Today, the Morris Canal Passaic County has many outstanding canal assets and 57% of the proposed Greenway route is already accessible and walkable. There are al- Passaic County’sCounty’s Greenway will eventually link up ready several municipal canal parks and bike- with other Morris Canal Greenway projects already ways in Little Falls, WWoodlandoodland Park and Clif- underway in Warren, Sussex, Morris, and Hudson ton. Approximately four miles of trail are now counties, forming a state-wide corridor along the complete. Many more miles are in the planning entire route of the canal. ■ stages, and soon interpretive and directional signs will help hikers and bicyclists further en- joy their Greenway experience. MORRIS CANAL GREENWAY In the future, Passaic County aims to open additional sections of this historic canal route www.passaiccountynj.org/MorrisCanalGreenwaywww.passaiccountynj.org/MorrisCanalGreenway for public use, and bring Greenway projects in different communities together as a county- A short, water fi lled section of the canal is preserved at Clifton’s www.facebook.com/MorrisCanalGreenway Morris Canal Park & Jack W. Kuepfer Sr. Nature Preserve. wide system.