Tempe Wick Reserve
Tempe Wick Road,
Mendham Township, Morris County, NJ
51 acres
Geology:
terrain is relatively flat
History:
early 20th century -- The property was formerly part of Franklin Farms, the estate of former New Jersey Governor Franklin Murphy (1846-1920). The property was actively farmed by Governor Murphy and the property owners who succeeded him, and most of the tract preserves the vista of the former farmland.
1996 -- the New Jersey Conservation Foundation (NJCF) entered into a contract with Tatiana Nagro to purchase her 52-acre farm at the headwaters of the Passaic River.
NJCF sold the contract to the Township of Mendham for $15,600, enough to cover the expenses accrued by the organization.
1997 -- the township received a Green Acres grant for $167,000 and a 2% loan for $594,454 payable over 20 years. In addition, area residents Albert and Katherine Merck donated $200,000 to assist in the acquisition. NJCF used this money to purchase U.S. Treasury zero-coupon bonds. These were then transferred to the township to help it repay the Green Acres loan. In the end, the township will have spent a total of $160,300 to acquire the Nagro property, now called the Tempe Wick Reserve. http://www.greatswamp.org/Education/streamways/CaseStudies.htm
John Nagro owns a large horse farm on Sand Spring Road that has just been preserved through the farmland preservation program. ???
The area is being considered as a possible site for recreational activities and even possibly for a building to house the result of library consolidation.
Governor Franklin Murphy
1846 - born in Jersey City, NJ.
1856 -- the family moved to Newark.
1862 - lied about his age to enlist in the Union Army during the Civil War.
1868 -- married Janet Cowell.
1883 -- elected a member of the Newark Common Council.
1885 -- he worked to modernize and beautify Newark and helped the legislature of Essex County to create the Park Commission that established Branch Brook Park.
1885 -- elected to the New Jersey House Assembly.
1891 -- the Murphy Varnish Company, which made Franklin wealthy, incorporated.
1901 -- elected governor. Franklin Murphy was a progressive governor: cleaned up the polluted Passaic River, cracked down child labor law violations, enforced progressive tenement house codes, and supported public health measures to eradicate tuberculosis.
1904 -- by this time he had helped order the building of 1000 miles of paved roads.
1905 -- out as governor.
Murphy worked for the Essex Park System as a Parks Commissioner.
1920 -- Franklin Murphy died at the age of 74.
(Source: http://www.virtualnewarknj.com/biogs/political/murphy.htm)
Habitats:
open fields and woods; a marshy wooded area bordering the Passaic River; most of the tract preserves the vista of the former farmland.
Facilities:
Natural area, hiking