Dog Training School | Historic Walking Tours Rediscover Morristown

MORRISTOWN - The Morris County Tourism Bureau (MCTB) offers itsHistoric Walking Tours starting at 10 a.m. Saturdays through June,July and August.

Tours last about 90 minutes. Tickets are $10 each. Mailpre-payment to MCTB, 6 Court St., Morristown, N.J. 07960 to hold areservation.

Events are:

Secrets Lore of Historic Morristown.

June 4 and June 11

Docent is David Breslauer.

Grand homes, wealthy builders and some annoying neighbors arepart of the story of the development of Morristown's historicresidential district. As two farms combined to become one of thenation's most prestigious summer enclaves during the Gilded Age,the new summer cottages and their inhabitants changed the characterof Morristown's landscape and its social scene.

The walk goes by restored and maintained Victorian homes withDavid Breslauer, former director of Macculloch Hall HistoricalMuseum who will offer stories of wayward chickens and pigs, brickwalls against car traffic, week-long parties, tycoons and backyardviews. The tour ends in Morristown's 'secret garden.'

Tour begins at 6 Court St. Group size is limited to 25.

Morristown in Three Centuries.

June 18-Aug. 13 (excluding July 2)

Docents are Mark Texel and Ted Edgar.

This historic Morristown walking tour covers nearly a milewithin Morristown's historic district. More than 300 years ofMorristown history is covered from its earliest beginnings at thePresbyterian Church of Morristown through the Industrial Revolutionand to the flamboyant Gilded Age. The Vail Mansion, MaccullochHall, and the Thomas Nast House are among the sites that arediscussed.

Mark Texel is the director of the Morris County ParkCommission's Historic Sites Division in Morristown. He is a trusteeof the Washington Valley Association and lives in a circa 1920sfarmhouse in Morris Township.

Ted Edgar was formerly a U.S. National Park ranger at MorristownNational Historical Park and at Thomas Edison's Laboratory and homein West Orange. He is an expert on New Jersey's Revolutionary Warhistory and weapons, and has participated in battlere-enactments.

Tour starts at 6 Court St. Group size is limited to 25.

Trial of the 19th Century: Antoine LeBlanc.

June 25 and July 30

Lecturer is Retired Superior Court Judge Kenneth C.MacKenzie.

Morristown's most famous murder trial offers participants theopportunity to sit in the actual courtroom where Antoine LeBlancwas tried in 1833 for the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Sayre andtheir servant Phoebe. The triple murder trial shocked the entirestate and resulted in LeBlanc's execution by hanging on theMorristown Green.

MacKenzie is a New Jersey historian and member of the Board ofTrustees of Historic Speedwell. He will share his legal insightsinto one of Morris County's most notorious trials.

Tour starts at 6 Court St. and held in the Courthouse across thestreet.

Historic Churches of Morristown.

July 16 and Aug. 13.

Docent is David Breslauer.

Morristown is a town of towers and spires, home to severalchurches with varied and unique architectural features. Theyinclude the First Baptist Church, St. Peter's Episcopal Church, theChurch of the Assumption, the Presbyterian Church of Morristown,the Church of the Redeemer, and the United Methodist Church. Someof the churches will be open so that the interiors can beviewed.

David Breslauer, former director of the Macculloch HallHistorical Museum, has been a docent for the Tourism Bureau for anumber of years, and also gives the "Secrets Lore" tour.

Tour starts at 6 Court St. Group size is limited to 25.

The Seeing Eye's Training Ground

July 23

Docents are Jim and Ginger Kutsch.

A new tour this year, North America's first guide dog trainingschool, The Seeing Eye of Morris Township was founded in 1929 byMorris Frank. The statue of Morris and his dog, Buddy, is just offthe Morristown Green.

During this tour participants will learn about the history ofThe Seeing Eye, walk the streets where the dogs train and see howSeeing Eye dogs respond to their owners. As the tour walks fromthe in-town training center of The Seeing Eye it will pass sitesimportant to the history of the organization and cross the historicMorristown Green.

Husband and wife, Jim and Ginger Kutsch, will lead the tour.Jim Kutsch serves as the president and chief executive officer ofThe Seeing Eye; Ginger Kutsch is a volunteer with the organization.Both are graduates of The Seeing Eye.

Tour begins at 14 Maple Ave. and is limited to 25.

The Seeing Eye provides specially bred and trained dogs to guidepeople who are blind. Seeing Eye-dog users experience greatlyenhanced mobility and independence, allowing them to retain theiractive lifestyles. The Seeing Eye is a philanthropy supported bycontributions from individuals, corporations and foundations,bequests, and other planned gifts.

The Seeing Eye is a trademarked name and can only be used todescribe the dogs bred and trained at the school's facilities inMorristown. For more information on The Seeing Eye, visit thewebsite at www.SeeingEye.org , call (973) 539-4425, or email info@seeingeye.org .

>> George Vail's Willow Hall.

June 18.

Docents are Carol Barkin and members of the Passaic RiverCoalition.

New in 2011, the tour offers members of the public to visit theformer home of George Vail of the Speedwell Iron Works on SpeedwellAvenue. In January 2011 this puddingstone villa, based on adesign by Andrew Jackson Downing, was placed National Registry ofHistoric Places.

Recently restored and open to the public for the first time in163 years, it is now home to the Passaic River Coalition. The tourwill look at the home, outbuildings and gardens which sit besideSpeedwell Lake and discuss the Vail family's contributions to theIndustrial Revolution and the telegraph.

The tour will begin at 330 Speedwell Ave. Group size is limitedto 25. Parking is available on-site.

Tours are sponsored by Century 21 Department Store andGreenberry's Coffee Company.