Morris County has launched a free mobile app that turns its Revolutionary War history into self-guided walking and driving tours, and several of the featured sites sit a short drive from Denville.
The county announced the STQRY app on Monday as part of its celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. Each tour includes an interactive map, photographs, written detail at every stop and optional audio narration.
The centerpiece is a set of five regional driving tours covering the Northeast, Northwest, Southeast A, Southeast B and Southwest sections of Morris County. Two walking tours are also live, both focused on Morristown. The Historic Morristown Walking Tour is built around the town’s role as the “Military Capital of the American Revolution,” while the Morristown Walking Tour and Beyond adds downtown landmarks, museums and historic sites.
One site highlighted in the county’s announcement is the Ford-Faesch Manor House in neighboring Rockaway Township, built by Jacob Ford Jr. in 1768 and later home to John Jacob Faesch, who directed the iron mining operations that supplied the Continental Army with ammunition and ordnance.
“Morris County played a pivotal role in the American Revolution, and as we continue celebrating America’s 250th Anniversary, we want to make it as easy as possible for residents and visitors to experience that history firsthand,” said Morris County Commissioner Director Stephen Shaw.
The tours draw on research compiled by the Morris County Office of Planning and Preservation for its Morris County in the American Revolution StoryMap. The Morris County Tourism Bureau built the tour experiences on top of that work, funded in part by a grant from the New Jersey Highlands Council.
The app is free on Google Play, and a web version runs in any browser. The county says more tours will be added over time.
Photo: The Wick House at Jockey Hollow in Morristown National Historical Park, one of the Revolutionary sites on the county’s tours. Credit: Lebrsm via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
