Morris Canal in Newark--Part I

Ronald L. Rice was the map archivist of the Canal Society of New Jersey when he donated this material in 2022. Rice has a long-standing interest in the history of the Morris Canal, which ran through Northern New Jersey for 102 miles for a century, until being decommissioned in 1924.

Rice conducts walking tours of the former canal path. Much of this material was used as research for these tours. The material was also used for a book Rice co-authored, Field Guide to the Morris Canal of New Jersey (a Greenway in the Making), published in 2015.

Included are news clippings, maps, photocopies of pages from books, notes, and other material related to the Morris Canal and associated topics.

Included in the collection are a few financial records from the former Essex County Jail on Lock Street in Newark. Rice discovered these documents while touring the abandoned jail site several years ago.