Morris Canal Park Dedicated in Montville

A new park in Montville Township has been dedicated where a huge, water-powered machine moved boats up inclines along the Morris Canal in the 1800s.

Morris Canal Park, near the intersection of Emery Lane and Route 202, was dedicated July 7 after a community effort that involved removing litter and downed trees, and the addition of a mulch trail and informational signs.

Eagle Scout Michael Moschetti mulched a path and cleaned up the property.

The "linear pocket park" is near what was known as Inclined Plane 9, part of the canal system built in the 1830s to deliver coal from Pennsylvania.

The canal was abandoned in the 1920s, and most of the canal through Montville Township was acquired by the municipality, but never was used as a park.

The effort was spearheaded by Kathy Fisher of the Montville Township Historical Society.

The park is part of the Morris Canal Greenway, a statewide project developing paths and parks along the Morris Canal, said Joe Macasek, president of Canal Society of New Jersey.

He said it's possible the new park eventually could be expanded to encompass an area around where a second inclined plane, Inclined Plane 8, existed in Montville Township.

Municipalities are exploring different ways to turn property that was part of the Morris Canal into parks and trail, and while they won't all connect, together they can form a "pathway that's a combination of history and recreation," Macasek said.