Denville Township has officially acquired the first 17.63 acres of the historic St. Francis property, the opening phase of one of the largest land preservation efforts in the township’s history.
The newly acquired parcel sits at the corner of Diamond Spring Road and Pocono Road. The Township expects to close on the remaining 33-acre parcel in October, a second phase that includes the property’s historic barns, athletic fields, and festival grounds. Together the two phases will permanently preserve roughly 50 acres in the center of town.
The acquisition was funded through grants from the Morris County Open Space and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund and the New Jersey Green Acres Program, along with local dollars from the dedicated Denville Open Space and Recreation Trust Fund.
“This is truly a once-in-a-generation achievement for our community,” Mayor Tom Andes said. “Preserving a property of this size and importance in the center of Denville is an opportunity that may never come again.”
The St. Francis property has been part of Denville’s history for more than 130 years. It was originally part of the historic Glover estate, known as Rockaway Farms, and was later associated with 19th century Wall Street investor Jeremiah G. Hamilton and Louis Fenn Wadsworth, one of the “Forefathers of Baseball.” In the early 20th century it became home to the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother and later the St. Francis Residential Community. For decades the Pocono Road property and Festival Grounds hosted the St. Clare’s Hospital and St. Francis festivals.
Most of the institutional buildings were demolished following the property’s sale in 2022, but the historic barns, open fields, woodlands, and scenic landscape remain.
Township officials envision a destination that blends conservation with recreation, including preserved athletic fields on the Pocono Road property, walking trails and passive recreation on the St. Francis property, and the eventual restoration of the historic barns as a possible future community center.
Andes also thanked Springpoint, Morris County, and the State of New Jersey for their partnership in making the acquisition possible.
“This investment protects not only open space, but an important piece of Denville’s identity,” Andes said. “It is a legacy that today’s residents are preserving for tomorrow.”
