Waterman meadow is a 19 acre meadow which was preserved in 2001
by the Waterman family and the Harding Township Land Trust, The
Morris County open Space Preservation and the NJ State Green Acres
Program.
The Land was part of the estate of Marcellus Hartly Dodge until
1951 when it was quired by the Waterman Family. The Pump house was
built in 1907 and restored by the Harding Land Trust as an example
of outbuilding architecture from this era.
Marcellus Hartley Dodge, Sr. (February 28, 1881 – December
25, 1963) was the chairman of the board of Remington Arms Company
and a member of the family associated with the Phelps Dodge
Corporation.
In 1907 he became engaged and married to (Ethel) Geraldine
Rockefeller of 689 Fifth Avenue. She was a child of William and
Almira Geraldine Goodsell Rockefeller, and was estimated to have
her own fortune of over 100 million dollars. They were said to be
the wealthiest newlyweds in the country when they married.
Initially, when in New Jersey they lived together at Hartley Farms,
a country estate purchased by Marcellus and his aunt, Helen Hartley
Jenkins.
In 1904 they bought all of the land between two estates held by
his family in Morris County, New Jersey that lay between Spring
Valley Road in the community of New Vernon and Madison Avenue in
Madison. Most of the area is part of the Harding Township area
which extends from Chatham to Morristown. The last portion
purchased, that had belonged to Charles W. Harkness, the third
largest stockholder of Standard Oil shares, named Giralda Farms,
was purchased by Geraldine in 1923. She maintained it as a grand
country estate among the rolling hills. Eventually they resided
separately on the adjoining estates. He preferred the New Jersey
setting and maintained his residence in New Vernon throughout his
life, but his wife regularly stayed in her Manhattan residence for
two or three days each week.
He expanded the house at Hartley Farms, which initially had been
used as a country retreat associated with his family's charitable
organization, "Hartley House" in Manhattan. After it became his
residence, he added two wings and some interior enhancements to the
house as well as secondary living quarters, barns, stables, and a
polo field. The property has been preserved with a conservation
easement and his residence has been listed on the National Register
of Historic Places. At one time Hartley Farms extended for a
thousand acres.