Your Guide to Living in Morris County

Morris County has a little bit of everything—a historic county seat with a diverse selection of restaurants, commuter towns with train stations, lake communities surrounded by New Jersey’s natural beauty, and rolling countryside where the next neighbor is a field away. Add strong schools, thousands of acres of public parkland and direct train access to Manhattan and it’s easy to see why many stay for decades. The county is also steeped in history. During the Revolutionary War, George Washington’s Continental Army set up their winter encampments in and around Morristown.

This guide is a starting point for those living in Morris County, considering a move here or visiting. Go on a tour of some of the towns, take a look at what draws people here, and delve into the county’s restaurants, doctors, dentists and homes.

Morris County at a Glance History: Morris County is named after Colonial-era Governor Lewis Morris. Municipalities: There are 39 municipalities in the 477.8-square-mile county. Residents: The population of Morris County is 509,285 (according to the 2020 Census). County seat: Morristown Colleges and universities: Drew University (Madison), Fairleigh Dickinson University Florham Campus (Madison), Saint Elizabeth University (Morristown), County College of Morris (Randolph) Entertainment: Mayo Performing Arts Center (Morristown), Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey (Madison) Parks & the Outdoors: Jockey Hollow (Morristown), Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (Chatham), Frelinghuysen Arboretum (Morris Township), Willowwood Arboretum (Chester), Lewis Morris Park (Morris Township), Hacklebarney State Park (Long Valley, Chester), Loantanka Brook Reservation (Morristown), Central Park of Morris County (Parsippany-Troy Hills), Schiff Nature Preserve (Mendham) Historic statues on the Morristown Green Shutterstock/George Wirt About The Towns Morris County’s 39 municipalities are: Boonton, Boonton Township, Butler, Chatham Borough, Chatham Township, Chester Borough, Chester Township, Denville, Dover, East Hanover, Florham Park, Hanover, Harding, Jefferson Township, Kinnelon, Lincoln Park, Long Hill Township, Madison, Mendham Borough, Mendham Township, Mine Hill, Montville, Morris Plains, Morris Township, Morristown, Mount Arlington, Mount Olive, Mountain Lakes, Netcong, Parsippany-Troy Hills, Pequannock, Randolph, Riverdale, Rockaway Borough, Rockaway Township, Roxbury, Victory Gardens, Washington Township and Wharton.

Below, get to know a few of these towns:

Florham Park Drive through Florham Park on Columbia Turnpike, and you might think all the Morris County borough has to offer are strip malls and corporate campuses. But tucked away beyond the main drag you’ll find a tidy and tightly knit suburb that works hard to keep its history and sense of community alive. The borough packs a lot into its seven square miles, including 40 corporate entities, 100 businesses, three public schools, and a sprawling training facility for the Jets football team, all within a 45-minute train ride to Manhattan.

Madison Madison’s downtown includes restaurants, shops, a museum and more. Shutterstock/George Wirt Madison’s walkable downtown attracts locals with kids in tow and students from the town’s college campuses. Cultural options include Shanghai Jazz, a hybrid Chinese restaurant and jazz club, the Museum of Early Trades and Crafts, a popular field-trip destination that explores the history and lives of New Jersey workers, and the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey on the Drew University campus. Within the Morris County borough’s 4.21 square miles, everything people move to the suburbs for is within arm’s reach: grassy yards, neighborhood barbecues, a downtown ice cream parlor, a weekly farmers’ market, youth soccer, bike paths and a commuter-rail station. There’s also Bottle Hill Day, an annual street fair, that celebrates the culture and history of Rose City. It’s a great spot for a day trip.

Mendham Bucolic yet posh, Mendham (divided into a township and a borough) has managed to keep its taxes relatively low, its home values rising and its schools scoring well above average. Old Route 24, the main artery in and out of town, becomes Main Street as it passes through the heart of Mendham Borough, flanked by historic buildings like the Phoenix House, now the town hall. The borough’s best-known landmark is the historic Black Horse Tavern & Pub. Beyond the center of town, the surrounding hills are graced by antique cottages and charming colonials as well as developments built in the 1970s on what was once farmland.

Morristown The Morristown Green, established in 1715, is the heart of downtown, and adjacent South Street its main artery. You’ll find Revolutionary War landmarks throughout town and a National Historic Park, Jockey Hollow, where Washington’s troops shivered through the frigid winter of 1780, just to the south. By day, South Street draws the local lunch crowd; at night, the area booms with people mingling at its many watering holes. The downtown is so walkable, the Morristown-based Seeing Eye has used it as a living classroom for guide dogs and their blind companions for more than 50 years. Morristown has a proud history of caring for the needy. Downtown includes numerous soup kitchens and the historic Market Street Mission shelter, established in 1889.

Mountain Lakes Tucked away among the rolling hills of Morris County, Mountain Lakes is a little-known gem of a town that has one of the largest collections of Craftsman-influenced houses in the country and was a forerunner of planned suburban communities in the 20th century. Established more than 100 years ago, in March 1924, the town was originally known as Mountain Lakes Residential Park. Nearly a third of all private residences in the 3.1-square-mile borough are so-called Hapgood homes, named after Herbert J. Hapgood, the builder who had the vision, along with local engineer Lewis Van Duyne, to transform a pristine tract of woods, rocks and wetlands into a thousand-acre community around nine lakes. Since 2005, Mountain Lakes has been on both the New Jersey and National Register of Historic Places.

Top Restaurants in Morris County The Black Horse Pub reopened in 2025 after a $2 million renovation. Courtesy of the Black Horse Pub Morristown‘s downtown thoroughfare (South Street, extending past the Morristown Green to Washington Street) boasts one of the most vibrant restaurant rows in northern New Jersey. Options range from retro-chic BYO pizzeria Coniglio’s to Stirling Tavern, which offers upscale tavern food, to Roots Steakhouse. See our full list of the best restaurants in Morristown here.

Madison, Denville and Chatham also have strong restaurant scenes centered around their bustling downtowns. A top pick in Denville is the Pasta Shop, which was just named the top pasta place in the entire country. And if you have a sweet tooth, Denville has been called the dessert capital of New Jersey by some residents. Don’t go to Chatham without trying the delicious pies at Bucky’s Pizza.

If you love steak, Rails in Towaco is a must. For upscale Italian, head to the classic Il Capriccio in Whippany. If you like a side of history with your meal, the Black Horse Tavern & Pub in Mendham is New Jersey’s oldest continuously operating restaurant, reopening in 2025 after a $2 million renovation.

Top Doctors & Dentists in Morris County New Jersey Monthly ‘s Top Doctors and Top Dentists databases are searchable by town. Use them to find the best practitioners near you.

Hospitals: Atlantic Health Morristown Medical Center (Morristown), Saint Clare’s Denville Hospital (Denville), and Atlantic Health Chilton Medical Center (Pompton Plains/Pequannock)

At Home in Morris County According to Zillow, the average home price in Morris County is $701,797. Beautiful historic homes— in towns such as Morristown and Madison—as well as more modern dwellings can be found across the county. Here is a look inside some beautiful ones.

Warm layers, subtle European details and family-first functionality transformed this 1990s home in Randolph. This 1950s traditional Madison home received a bright, modern makeover. NBC Sportscaster Kathryn Tappen’s residence was designed with a Maine-farmhouse feel. A circa-1905 Mendham Township home gets decorated for Christmas.

Your Guide to Living in Morris County

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