Twp. of Parsippany Organizations - Town History & Historic Places

Parsippany Organizations - Town History

Parsippany's history is full of interesting facts. Please read up and you may be pleasantly surprised.

Slide Show of Historic Places

Parsippany Historical and Preservation Society

Township of Parsippany - Troy Hills - Township History

Parsippany was once the home of the Lenni-Lenape Indians and was known as Parsippanong, the place where rivers come together. In the early eighteenth century, when settlement here began with Dutch and English immigrants, Parsippany was part of Hanover Township, one of three townships comprising all of Morris County.

The original settlers in this area started farms and iron forges which played an important role in the Revolutionary war providing supplies to the troops. This area continued to grow after the Revolutionary war with additional farms, dairies and grist mills, however remaining basically agricultural until it started to become a popular summer vacation area for people from the cities.

In 1869, the Methodist Camp Meeting Assoc. established the Mount Tabor campground, with 16x25 foot tent sites. This was followed, starting in the 1920's, by Rainbow Lakes, Lake Hiawatha, Lake Intervale and Lake Parsippany, built by the New York Daily Mirror Newspaper and they sold 20x100 foot lots for $98.50 with a six month subscription to the paper.

Up until 1928, Hanover Township encompassed the villages of Parsippany, Littleton, Rockaway Neck, Troy, Boonton Manor, Rainbow Lakes, Fox Hills, Mount Tabor, Hanover Neck, Whippany, Hanover, Malapardis and Cedar Knolls. Some of these village areas did not have representation on the Hanover Township Committee and residents began to feel their interests were not being properly addressed. Some claimed that, while they paid heavy taxes, they did not receive promised school facilities.

Because of these concerns, a group of citizens formed the Mount Tabor-Littleton Community Club, meeting at Mount Tabor School. Among the citizens advocating separation from Hanover were Messrs. Dudley B. Kimball, William Baldwin, Charles Dehart Condit and C. Howell Bates. But there were also those who opposed separation, feeling that it would increase taxes with duplication of positions and administrative costs.

Nevertheless, the idea of separation gained momentum and on March 12, 1928, the New Jersey State Legislature adopted legislation creating the Townships of Parsippany-Troy Hills and East Hanover, provided that a referendum vote of the residents of Hanover would ratify the creation of these two towns.
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On May 9, 1928, residents of Hanover went to the polls and overwhelmingly voted to permit the eastern section of the Township to incorporate as the Township of East Hanover and the northern section to incorporate as the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills.

On June 6, 1928, voters returned to the polls to adopt the Township Committee form of government and on June 18th, committeemen from Hanover, Parsippany-Troy Hills and East Hanover met at the Firehouse in Whippany to allot and divide between the new municipalities and Hanover, all moneys on hand, property, assets and liens, and all indebtedness.

The Township had a three member, non-partisan Committee until 1930 when it was changed to five and in 1953, Parsippany was the first town in the state to adopt the Council-Manager Plan E form of government with a non-partisan, five member council elected at large, with unstaggered terms and a full-time, paid Town-Manager. This form of government was in place until 1964, when the Mayor-Council Plan E was adopted, providing for partisan, staggered elections of a 5 member council and a Mayor. That form of government is still in place.

In 1928, the population of Parsippany-Troy Hills was 6,800. However, the lake communities were blossoming around this time, and following WWII and the housing shortage that ensued, these summer homes were converted to year-round residences, causing a major increase in the permanent population of the town. The development of the garden apartments brought an additional surge in population, as did the many new subdivisions that were built in the 60’s. The population peaked in 1970 at 55,000. Believe it or not, according to the year 2000 census, the population is now 50,000, or 5,000 less than in 1970

The only public schools in town in 1928 were Mount Tabor and the Parsippany School both of which were quite small. Soon after incorporation, a new Parsippany School (now Central Middle School) was built and in 1932 a new Mount Tabor School was opened. Lake Parsippany School was built in 1949, followed by Lake Hiawatha in 1952. Up until 1956, when Parsippany High opened, high school students from Parsippany went to Caldwell, Boonton, Morristown or Mountain Lakes. Littleton School opened in 1958 and Knollwood in 1962. Brooklawn Junior High opened in 1965, Troy Hills School in 1966, Rockaway Meadow and Intervale in 1967 and Eastlake and Northvail in 1968. Finally, Parsippany Hills High School opened in 1969.

From an economic standpoint, in 1928 Parsippany was still primarily a rural area with some blacksmith shops but little else in the way of business or commerce, the forges and mills having closed years before. But as the population grew, retail businesses emerged and eventually the strip mall concept came to town, with Parsippany Plaza and Morris Hills Plaza arriving in the 50’s and Baldwin Plaza and Troy Hills Plaza in the 60’s.

As state and local road networks improved, light-manufacturing businesses developed in the Jefferson/East Halsey Road areas. With the expansion of the interstate highway system into Parsippany, interest in commercial development mushroomed. In the mid 70’s, applications were filed to develop large regional shopping centers in town. These applications were denied by the planning board, which opted instead to zone large tracts of land for high-end corporate business campuses. The late 70’s and 80’s saw the development of Lanidex, the Prudential Campus, Waterview, Gatehall and Morris Corporate Center. Today, Parsippany is the largest suburban commercial real estate market in New Jersey and is host to many Fortune 500 companies.

Parsippany is well known for its many beautiful parks and fine recreation programs. Our Knoll golf courses are rated among the best and Craftsman Farms is at the heart of the Arts and Crafts movement in this country. We’re proud of our history and the fact that we have preserved the Condit House, The Olde Littleton School House and the Bowlsby-DeGelleke house.

The Township has changed a great deal since 1928. Today, it is a large and diverse community, with a strong infrastructure, robust economy, excellent school system, beautiful parks, quality services and our police and emergency service volunteers keep our neighborhoods safe and secure. We have much to be proud of in our history, in what we are today, and in the planning we are doing for tomorrow.

Parsippany Historical and Preservation Society

Meeting Schedule for 2007

All meetings are held the 3rd Wednesday of every month, except for July and August.

TBD