Giralda Farms Preserve

Preservation Partners
Giralda Farms Preserve was preserved in December 2014 when Morris
County Park Commission, Chatham Township, the Open Space Institute and
others banded together to raise more than $14 million to acquire the land.
Chatham Township
Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation
F.M. Kirby Foundation
Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority
Morris County Park Commission
Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders
Morris County Preservation Trust
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres Program
Normandy Real Estate Partners
Open Space Institute
at Loantaka Brook Reservation
Photo: Brett Cole, Courtesy Open Space Institute
For more information please
contact the Chatham Township
Open Space Committee:
[email protected]
or (917) 596-7807
Giralda Farms Preserve
Photo: Brett Cole, Courtesy Open Space Institute
“Working together,
our partners helped
turn the dream of
protecting this historic
property into a
reality,” said Chatham
Township Mayor Kevin
Sullivan. “This is a
wonderful resource
for Chatham Township
and southeastern
Morris County, forever
protected and open to
the public.”
A Treasure of Morris County and Chatham Township,
Preserved Forever for Public Enjoyment
On Saturday, June 6, 2015, Giralda Farms Preserve opens to the public.
The historic former Geraldine R. Dodge property was preserved by
Chatham Township, Morris County Park Commission, the Open Space
Institute and other dedicated partners.
The new land expands the adjacent Loantaka Brook Reservation from 744
to 880 acres. It also adds 2.3 miles to the existing eight miles of trails within
the Reservation, and connects to a wider system of paths within Morris
County. The property will continue to be the home of the Giralda Music &
Arts Festival, a much-loved outdoor concert event that has been running at
the site for 31 years.
Once a part of the famous Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge estate, Giralda
Farms Preserve consists of footpaths through maintained fields and
forested areas and a network of streams and wetlands. Because the land
is within the watershed of the federally protected Great Swamp National
Wildlife Refuge, its protection also benefits water quality and wildlife,
including more than 244 species of birds.
Photo: Courtesy Dodge Foundation
History of Giralda Farms
Geraldine Dodge and Rin Tin Tin
Giralda Farms Preserve at Loantaka Brook Reservation
Mrs. Dodge’s proud
legacy of land
conservation lives
on with the 2014
preservation of 136
acres of her former
estate, to be enjoyed
by the public for
generations to come.
KEY
Current
Giralda Path
Other Paths
New Parkland
(former Giralda
property)
Public
Performance
Green
Loantaka Brook
Reservation
(Existing County Park)
St. Hubert’s
Animal
Welfare
Center
Giralda Farms was the name Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge (1882-1973)
gave to her New Jersey country estate, which in its heyday included
stables, kennels, formal gardens and many rare and imported species
of unusual trees and shrubs.
The youngest child of Standard Oil Co. co-founder William Avery
Rockefeller, Jr., Geraldine married Marcellus Hartley Dodge, owner and
President of the Remington Arms Company and majority owner of The
New York Times, in 1907. At the time of their marriage, The International
Herald Tribune deemed them America’s wealthiest couple.
Trail Entrance
nd
Valley
Rd
Loantaka
Brook
Reservation
LOCATION
Drew
University
Madison
Hickory Square
Shopping Center
Spring
Village Rd
New
Parkland
Loantaka
Way
e
Av
Special thanks to Nina Benton and Nicolas Platt for assistance with this history.
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Mrs. Dodge’s philanthropic legacy continues today. The Geraldine R.
Dodge Foundation, based in Morristown, has given away $450 million
to fund important work being done by non-profits in the areas of the
environment, arts, education and media. St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare
Center, founded by Mrs. Dodge, still operates near the parkland.
oo
W
In 1916, Mr. and Mrs. Dodge purchased the Giralda Farms estate. Mrs.
Dodge oversaw the creation of miles of bridal paths running through
the properties and had many specimen trees planted—at one point,
40 gardeners tended the estate. Animals, especially dogs, were Mrs.
Dodge’s passion. She hosted the famous Morris and Essex Dog show
at the estate, which ran annually from 1927-1957. After Mrs. Dodge’s
death, the estate was sold in the mid-1970s to private interests.
Shun
p
ike R
d
Great Swamp National
Wildlife Refuge