The Historical Society of Rockaway Township will open the doors of the Ford-Faesch Ironmaster’s House for a free public tour day on Saturday, July 18, 2026, beginning at noon.
The 1772 Georgian stone house stands at 629 Mount Hope Road in the Mount Hope section of Rockaway Township, the largest municipality in Morris County. The Society’s summer open houses have featured self-guided tours, Revolutionary War-attired interpreters and the site’s mining museum.
The home carries deep Revolutionary War roots. It was built by Colonel Jacob Ford Jr. before he raised the Ford Mansion in Morristown, which later served as General George Washington’s headquarters from December 1779 to June 1780. Swiss ironmaster John Jacob Faesch leased and then bought the Mount Hope property, where he produced supplies and munitions for the Continental Army. The Mount Hope Iron Works was so vital that Hessian prisoners captured at Trenton were released to work under Faesch. He went on to serve as a Common Pleas judge and as a Morris County delegate to the New Jersey convention that ratified the United States Constitution.
Efforts by the Historical Society placed the house on the State and National Registers of Historic Places in 1973 and 1974. Rockaway Township purchased the site in 1984 and leases it to the Society, which has led its restoration.
As the nation marks its 250th anniversary, the open house gives Rockaway and Morris County residents a close-to-home link to the American Revolution. More information is available at hsrockawaytwpnj.org.
