Morris Plains, New Jersey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Morris Plains, New Jersey
Borough
Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital
Seal
Motto(s):  "The Community of Caring"
Location of Morris Plains in Morris County highlighted in red (right). Inset map: Location of Morris County in New Jersey highlighted in orange (left).
Census Bureau map of Morris Plains, New Jersey
Morris Plains, New Jersey Location in Morris County, New Jersey Show map of Morris County, New Jersey Morris Plains, New Jersey Location in New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Morris Plains, New Jersey Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Morris
Incorporated	April 15, 1926
Named for	Lewis Morris
Government
• Type	Borough
• Body	Borough Council
Area
• Total	2.59 sq mi (6.71 km2)
• Land	2.55 sq mi (6.61 km2)
• Water	0.04 sq mi (0.09 km2)  1.35%
Area rank	369th of 565 in state 30th of 39 in county
Elevation	430 ft (130 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	6,153
• Estimate  (2023)	6,538
• Rank	341st of 565 in state 28th of 39 in county
• Density	2,409.6/sq mi (930.4/km2)
• Density rank	258th of 565 in state 12th of 39 in county
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Code	07950
Area code(s)	973
FIPS code	3402748210
GNIS feature ID	0885308
Website

Morris Plains is a borough in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 6,153, an increase of 621 (+11.2%) from the 2010 census count of 5,532, which in turn reflected an increase of 296 (+5.7%) from the 5,236 counted in the 2000 census.

Morris Plains was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 15, 1926, from portions of Hanover Township, based on the results of a referendum held on April 15, 1926. The borough's name comes from Lewis Morris, colonial governor of New Jersey.

Morris Plains serves as a bedroom community, with many residents traveling to work in New York City. The Morristown Line of NJ Transit provides commuters with direct access to New York Penn Station and to Hoboken Terminal.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 2.59 square miles (6.71 km²), including 2.55 square miles (6.61 km²) of land and 0.04 square miles (0.09 km²) of water (1.35%).

Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Littleton.

The borough borders the Morris County municipalities of Hanover Township, Morris Township and Parsippany-Troy Hills.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Morris Plains has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 5,532 people, 2,131 households, and 1,485 families in the borough. The population density was 2,163.5 per square mile (835.3/km²). There were 2,197 housing units at an average density of 859.2 per square mile (331.7/km²). The racial makeup was 89.44% (4,948) White, 2.73% (151) Black or African American, 0.09% (5) Native American, 4.97% (275) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 1.07% (59) from other races, and 1.70% (94) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.68% (314) of the population.

Of the 2,131 households, 32.3% had children under the age of 18; 61.3% were married couples living together; 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present and 30.3% were non-families. Of all households, 24.9% were made up of individuals and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.12.

24.8% of the population were under the age of 18, 4.7% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 28.5% from 45 to 64, and 16.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.1 years. For every 100 females, the population had 93.5 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 89.4 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $103,688 (with a margin of error of +/− $12,744) and the median family income was $127,614 (+/− $20,257). Males had a median income of $91,908 (+/− $21,398) versus $67,232 (+/− $24,331) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $45,165 (+/− $10,332). About 0.4% of families and 9.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 0.6% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

The borough has been a major base of operations for Pfizer, previously the headquarters for Warner-Lambert. Pfizer has sponsored the Health and Medical Science Academy at Morristown High School and an annual 5k race around Morris Plains. In 2012, a 63-acre (25 ha) property owned by Pfizer on the west side of Route 53 was acquired by M&M Realty Partners, which plans to redevelop the site for a mixed use development that would include 500 housing units and 100,000 square feet (9,300 m²) for retail use.

In 2015, Honeywell moved into a 475,000-square-foot (44,100 m²) headquarters on a 40-acre (16 ha) campus, after relocating from AlliedSignal headquarters in Morristown.

Education

The Morris Plains Schools educate public school students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of two schools, had an enrollment of 578 students and 61.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.5:1. Schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Mountain Way School with 200 students in grades Pre-K–2 and Morris Plains Borough School with 369 students in grades 3–8.

Students in public school for ninth through twelfth grades attend Morristown High School, as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Morris School District which also serves the communities of Morristown and Morris Township (for grades K–12). As of the 2018–19 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 1,860 students and 133.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.0:1.

St. Virgil Academy, founded in 1910, was a Catholic school serving students in preschool through eighth grade (including Pre-K–3 and Pre-K–4) that operated under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson. The school was closed at the end of the 2015–2016 school year in the wake of declining enrollment and the rising costs of covering the school's deficits.

Transportation

U.S. Route 202 southbound in Morris Plains

Roads and highways

As of May 2010^[update], the borough had a total of 28.66 miles (46.12 km) of roadways, of which 24.15 miles (38.87 km) were maintained by the municipality, 1.81 miles (2.91 km) by Morris County and 2.70 miles (4.35 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

U.S. Route 202, New Jersey Route 10 and New Jersey Route 53 are the main highways serving Morris Plains. Interstate 80 and Interstate 287 are both accessible in neighboring Parsippany-Troy Hills Township.

Public transportation

NJ Transit provides service at the Morris Plains station on the Morristown Line to Newark Broad Street Station, Secaucus Junction, New York Penn Station and Hoboken Terminal. The one-story red brick station house, constructed in 1915 in Renaissance Revival style, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 22, 1984.

NJ Transit provides local bus service on the 872, 875 and 880 routes, replacing service that had been offered on the MCM2, MCM3 and MCM10 routes until 2010, when subsidies to the local provider were eliminated as part of budget cuts.

TV and movies

• In The Sopranos episode "Made in America", Phil Leotardo is shot to death at a Morris Plains Raceway gas station, located on route 10, before being run over.

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Morris Plains include:

Edward Mosberg

Ben Weinman

• Darron Collins (born 1970), human ecologist and academic administrator specializing in ethnobotany, who became president of the College of the Atlantic in 2011
• Michael Dogbe (born 1996), defensive end for the Arizona Cardinals
• William Perry Fogg (1826–1909), author and adventurer
• Robert Martin (born 1947), State Senator since 1993 who represents the 26th Legislative District
• Richard Aldrich McCurdy (1835–1916), attorney, business executive and banker who was president of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York from 1885 to 1906
• Charley Molnar (born 1961), former head football coach at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Edward Mosberg (1926-2022), Polish-American Holocaust survivor, educator and philanthropist
• Carol Murphy (born 1932), member of the New Jersey General Assembly from 1992 to 2000
• Suzanne Scott (born 1965/66), CEO of Fox News
• Gustav Stickley (1858–1942), furniture manufacturer, design leader, publisher and the chief proselytizer for the American Craftsman style
• Louis A. Thebaud (1859–1939), businessman, sportsman and philanthropist in the Gilded Age
• Jay Webber (born 1972), Assemblyman who has represented the 26th Legislative District since 2008 and had served as Chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee
• Elizabeth Weed (born 1940), feminist scholar, editor and university administrator who was the cofounder of the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women
• Ben Weinman (born 1975), of the band The Dillinger Escape Plan
• Arthur Whitney (1871–1942), politician who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature and was the Republican nominee for Governor of New Jersey in 1925
• Paul Zimmerman (born 1932), football sportswriter for Sports Illustrated

See also

In Spanish: Morris Plains para niños