Denville Closes on the First 17 Acres of the St. Francis Property, With 33 More Coming in October

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Denville Township has closed on the first 17 acres of the historic St. Francis property, the opening phase of one of the largest land preservation efforts in the township’s history and one of the biggest open space wins in Morris County this year.

The newly acquired parcel sits at the corner of Diamond Spring Road and Pocono Road, one of the busiest intersections in town. Denville expects to complete the purchase of the remaining 33-acre parcel in October. That second phase covers the property’s historic barns, athletic fields, and festival grounds, and it brings the total preserved acreage to roughly 50 acres in the center of Denville.

The acquisition was funded through grants from the Morris County Open Space and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund and the New Jersey Green Acres Program, along with the Denville Open Space and Recreation Trust Fund. Morris County commissioners announced a $5.7 million Open Space Trust Fund grant toward the St. Francis and Pocono Field project on May 4, 2026.

“This is truly a once-in-a-generation achievement for our community,” Mayor Tom Andes said in the township’s announcement. “Preserving a property of this size and importance in the center of Denville is an opportunity that may never come again.”

More Than 130 Years of Denville History

The land was originally part of the Glover estate, a nearly 200-acre property established along the Rockaway River in the early 1800s by Col. John Heyward Glover and known as Rockaway Farms. It was later associated with Jeremiah G. Hamilton, the 19th century Wall Street investor, and Louis Fenn Wadsworth, one of the men often called a forefather of baseball. In 1895 the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother acquired the northern portion and established what became the St. Francis Residential Community, while the southern parcel went from farmland to the athletic fields residents still use.

For decades the Pocono Road property and festival grounds hosted the St. Clare’s Hospital and St. Francis festivals, events plenty of Morris County families still remember. Most of the institutional buildings came down after the property sold in 2022, but the barns, open fields, woodlands, and the surrounding landscape are all still there.

What Denville Plans to Do With the Land

Township officials have described a property that blends conservation with recreation: preserved athletic fields on the Pocono Road side, walking trails and passive recreation on the St. Francis side, and the eventual restoration of the historic barns as a possible community center. Nothing has a construction timeline attached to it yet, and the October closing has to happen first.

Andes thanked Springpoint, Morris County, and the State of New Jersey for their roles in the deal. “This investment protects not only open space, but an important piece of Denville’s identity,” he said. “It is a legacy that today’s residents are preserving for tomorrow.”

Denville has been part of the county open space program since it started in 1994, when the township preserved the Ayres-Knuth Farm. Since then the Morris County Open Space Trust Fund has helped preserve more than 18,440 acres across nearly all 39 municipalities, backed by more than $300 million raised through a voter-approved preservation tax.

If you want to make a day of it in the meantime, our guide to things to do in Denville covers downtown Broadway, dining, and local favorites, and our fall foliage guide has more places to get outside across Morris County this season.