Revolutionary Times Weekend
WHEN: July 2 to July 4
WHERE: various venues
ADMISSION: FREE
For the fourth year in a row, visitors to, and residents of Morris County will have the opportunity to enjoy an authentically, patriotic 4th of July the way the Founding Fathers might have imagined it. This year, in addition to celebrating the country’s independence, the event will also salute the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service and the 200th anniversary of the Trustees of the Morristown Green. The schedule of events spans a period during which Morristown National Historical Park will be free and open to the public in honor of their Centennial and the July 4th holiday.
On Saturday, July 2nd, the Hanover Township Landmark Commission kicks off the weekend with a free tour of its 1718 Burying Yard located off of Route 10 East in Whippany. This one-hour tour will highlight people who first settled Morris County and are buried in the cemetery. Morristown National Historical Park will be free and open to the public from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Visitors will be able to view a special National Park centennial exhibit, as well as the museum and Ford Mansion at the Morristown unit of the park.
On Sunday, July 3rd, Morristown National Historical Park will host a Revolutionary War encampment at the Ford Mansion. Costumed reenactors will be on hand demonstrating a soldier’s life in the Continental Army. The park will be free and open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. the park welcomes the United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps for a lawn concert. Bring blankets and chairs. Rain location will be on-site in the Washington’s Headquarters Museum auditorium.
The Morris County Park Commission, the Morris County Tourism Bureau and The Town of Morristown are pleased to present a fireworks display, also free to the public, on Sunday, July 3rd. Fireworks will begin at 9:15 p.m. at Central Park of Morris County, off West Hanover Avenue in Morris Plains-Parsippany. Parking is limited and early arrival and carpooling is recommended. Central Park of Morris County will be open for picnicking beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Monday, July 4th, events will begin at the Ford Mansion where the Continental Army reenactors will march to the Morristown Green at 11 a.m. The public is invited to fall in and march with them. At the Morristown Green there will be family activities beginning at noon. Eric Olsen and Tom Winslow of Morristown National Historical Park’s ranger corps will provide the colorful, annual Reading of the Declaration of Independence, a long-standing Morris County tradition, at 12:30 p.m. Following the reading there will be a musket salute and free guided tours of the Presbyterian Church of Morristown’s church and Colonial-era graveyard. This is a rain or shine event. In case of rain the event will be held indoors at the Presbyterian Church, 57 East Park Place, Morristown.
For more information, contact the Morris County Tourism Bureau at www.morristourism.org or call 973-631-5151.
