Morristown's first water system was founded on the hills southwest of the Green, at the corner of present day Ann and Court streets, almost a decade after the end of the Revolutionary War. "From the incorporation of the company in 1799 until the abandonment of the reservoir in 1926, this site...had continuous involvement in the efforts made to provide Morristown with a public water supply". In 1978, when a Morris County parking deck was to be built near the courthouse, the foundation walls for the 1805 cistern, successor to the initial water supply lines, were discovered.
In April of 1799, Morristown citizens were suffering from the effects of a drought. General John Doughty, once a commander in Washington's army and the largest landholder in Morris County at the time, led a group of Morristown citizens in the formation of an Aqueduct Society. By November of that year, the New Jersey Legislature had granted them an act of incorporation and on November 21, 1799, the
There were subsequent problems with the construction of the aqueduct, lack of water pressure being the main concern, and minor repairs were constantly needed to provide an adequate supply of water to subscribers. Also, throughout its history, the company never made a profit. Original ownership was through a joint-stock arrangement and by the 1820's it is believed the company was bankrupt. Subsequent owners included James Wood, from 1825-1843, and John Vorhees, from 1843-1869. In 1869, Henry C. Pitney's company purchased the aqueduct, expanding the size of it until 1923, at which point Morristown took over ownership of the water supply. The Court Street aqueduct came under the control of Morristown's Water Department and by 1926, after the Jockey Hollow Reservoir became the system's principal water supply, the Court Street Distribution Reservoir was abandoned.
References: Craig,
The materials in this collection document the founding of the Morris Aqueduct in 1799. Documents and items highlight the early history of Morristown's water supply including land use deeds, account and minute books, correspondence, stockholder certificates, chemical and engineering reports, a Morristown town ordinance, newspaper clippings and early water bills. The newspaper clippings provide valuable local insight into the uses and functions of an early American water supply system. Information pertaining to the Morris Canal during the 1920's is also available in this collection.
The twenty-five folders of this collection are arranged chronologically.
This material is open for research without restriction under the conditions of the North Jersey History and Genealogy Center archives access policy. Records may be copied for use in individual scholarly or personal research, however, as with all materials in the History Center, researchers are responsible for obtaining copyright permission to use material from the collection. Material in the Morris Aqueduct Records may be photocopied, but because this material is a permanent part of the History Center's collections, researchers are advised to photocopy with care, using only the edge copier for bound material.
The records of the Morris Aqueduct were donated to the North Jersey History Center of the Morristown and Morris Township Library.
The Morris Aqueduct Records, 1799-1929. North Jersey History Center, The Morristown and Morris Township Library.
The collection was arranged and described, and the finding aid encoded, by Mary McMahon Dawson, Spring 2007. Finding aid revised September 2009.