Canal and iron era
Port Morris and Shippenport grew around the Morris Canal, which opened in 1831 and reached its summit level at Port Morris. Charcoal iron was made at Shippenport.
Case Study · Roxbury Township · Morris County, New Jersey
One Township.Two Rivers.One High School.
Six communities inside one township, at elevations from about 750 to 1,200 feet, draining to two river systems, with median household incomes from about $65,000 to $165,000 — and one public high school, shared since 1903 with the borough of Mount Arlington.
CDG Digital Media · November 2026 · Data: U.S. Census ACS · NJ Department of Education · NJ Highlands Council
Scroll 01 — At a Glance
Roxbury in numbers
Roxbury's median household income is $134,519, close to the Morris County median of $137,326 (ACS 2020–24). Across its six census-designated places, section medians range from $65,070 in Port Morris to $164,555 in Succasunna (ACS 2019–23).
2.5×Income spread between Succasunna and Port Morris
2River systems drained — the Raritan and the Delaware
~160Mount Arlington students sent to Roxbury High each year
20.2%RHS students economically disadvantaged in 2023–24, up from 11.8%
Roxbury Township contains six census-designated places: Succasunna, Ledgewood, Landing, Kenvil, Port Morris and Lower Berkshire Valley. All are served by the Roxbury School District. At grade 9, students from the separate borough of Mount Arlington join them at Roxbury High School under a sending/receiving relationship.
02 — The Land
Topography that sorts people
Roxbury covers about 21.9 square miles of the New Jersey Highlands. Scroll through the ground it sits on.
The floor. Most of Roxbury's people live on the Succasunna plain — flat glacial-era ground around 750 ft. Succasunna is listed at 751 ft, Ledgewood at 768 ft.
The edges rise. Mooney Mountain in the west tops out a little over 1,200 ft. Lake Hopatcong sits roughly 175 ft above the plain, near 925 ft.
Rain on Succasunna leaves by the Lamington River and Drakes Brook — both headed for the Raritan and, eventually, Raritan Bay.
Rain on Landing goes into the lake, out its outlet the Musconetcong, and on to the Delaware. Two sections of one township, a few miles apart, drain to different bays.
Schematic, horizontally not to scale. Elevations approximate (GNIS/Wikipedia for CDP centers; topographic-map.com for Mooney Mountain Park's high point; lake level approximate normal pool).
02b — The Canal
The canal's summit
The Morris Canal reached its summit level at Port Morris. Opened in 1831, it hauled coal, iron ore and timber across northern New Jersey — and fed itself largely with water from Lake Hopatcong.
Elevation0ft above sea level
Up from the Hudson. Boats climbed 914 ft from Jersey City using locks and inclined planes — cars hauled boats overland on rails.
The summit. The highest water on the whole route ran through Port Morris, where Lake Hopatcong could keep it full.
Down to the Delaware. Then 760 ft back down to Phillipsburg — about 1,674 ft of total elevation change, more than any other transportation canal of its time. It closed in 1924.
Schematic: the number of steps is illustrative, not a count of locks and planes. Elevations from the Canal Society of NJ marker and published canal profiles.
02c — The Overlay
The Highlands overlay
Of Roxbury's 14,041 acres, 4,303 sit in the Highlands Preservation Area and 9,738 in the Planning Area. The township conformed the Preservation Area to the Regional Master Plan in 2013 and added the Planning Area in 2025 — the whole municipality now conforms.
Preservation · 31%
Planning · 69%
The Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act was signed in 2004. Conformance with the Regional Master Plan is required in the Preservation Area and voluntary in the Planning Area.
03 — The Sections
Six places inside one border
Roxbury has no single downtown identity. The Census tracks six census-designated places inside it. Each card opens a full profile.
01 Raritan side
Succasunna
The population center on the glacial plain
$164,555
Open profile → 02 Raritan side
Ledgewood
Where Route 10 meets Route 46
$125,000
Open profile → 03 Delaware side
Landing
The lake's old front door
$125,407
Open profile → 04
Kenvil
The explosives town
$81,250
Open profile → 05 Delaware side
Port Morris
The canal's high point
$65,070 ±$11,836
Open profile → 06
Lower Berkshire Valley
The quiet valley pocket
Income: not ranked (tiny sample)
Open profile → 04 — Income
Income by section
Municipal medians are ACS 2020–24 from the Morris County Office of Planning; Roxbury's sections are ACS 2019–23 five-year estimates.
Median household incomeRoxbury sections vs. neighbors
Randolph
$175,000
$175,000
Morris County
$137,326
$137,326
Mount Arlington
$92,264
$92,264
Dover
$73,737
$73,737
Succasunna
Landing
Ledgewood
Kenvil
Port Morris
Township median: $134,519 (ACS 2020–24).
By section (ACS 2019–23): Succasunna $164,555 · Landing $125,407 · Ledgewood $125,000 · Kenvil $81,250 · Port Morris $65,070.
Reference lines: Randolph $175,000 · Morris County $137,326 · Mount Arlington $92,264 · Dover $73,737 (ACS 2020–24).
Port Morris margin of error is ±$11,836; small-place estimates are approximate. Lower Berkshire Valley omitted (sample too small).
05 — The School
Where it all converges
Roxbury High School (est. 1903; One Bryant Drive, Succasunna) enrolled 1,147 students in 2023–24. Every section feeds it.
100 dots ≈ one high school. Each dot is about 1% of RHS. Roxbury's share is spread across its sections in proportion to their population — an illustration, not enrollment by address.
Then a borough joins. Mount Arlington runs its own PreK–8 district and has sent its high schoolers here since 1903 — about 160 a year, tuition paid by its district, with a seat on Roxbury's board of education.
One building. Students from all six sections and from Mount Arlington attend Roxbury High School, One Bryant Drive, Succasunna.
Sending relationships
For its first half-century RHS took tuition students from Randolph, Chester, Hopatcong, Jefferson, Mount Olive and Mount Arlington. Postwar growth overcrowded it, and by 1955 the board ended every sending relationship except Mount Arlington's.
Two more doors into the building
Interdistrict School Choice. Roxbury is an approved choice district for grades 7–12 with a fine and performing arts focus, so students from other towns can enroll at no cost to their families. County academies. The Morris County Vocational School District runs its Academy for Sports Medicine and an Aviation academy inside RHS, drawing students countywide.
05b — Composition
2021–22
Race and ethnicity, Roxbury High School
WhiteHispanicBlackAsianTwo or more
Economically disadvantaged
11.8%
Students with disabilities
15.8%
Each square is 1% of the student body. NJDOE School Performance Reports, 2021–22 through 2023–24.
2021–22. White 67.1%, Hispanic 21.1%. Economically disadvantaged 11.8%.
2022–23. White 63.2%, Hispanic 24.7%. Economically disadvantaged 15.3%.
2023–24. White 61.0%, Hispanic 25.8%. Economically disadvantaged 20.2%. NJDOE advises caution when comparing these years.
05c — Outcomes
Outcomes, 2023–24
Roxbury High School compared with statewide figures. Highlighted values are below the state rate.
| Measure (2023–24) | RHS | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| 4-year graduation rate, all students (Class of 2024) | 93.1% | 91.3% |
| 4-year graduation, economically disadvantaged | 82.9% | 87.1% |
| NJGPA math "graduation ready," grade 11 | 65.8% | 55.6% |
| NJGPA math, economically disadvantaged | 44.2% | 36.0% |
| SAT Reading & Writing / Math average | 566 / 552 | 530 / 519 |
| 11th–12th graders in at least one AP course | 29.8% | 35.9% |
| …economically disadvantaged students | 16.9% | 22.8% |
| AP exams scoring 3 or higher (309 of 353) | 87.5% | — |
| Seniors earning the Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish | 10.1% | — |
Source: NJDOE School Performance Report, Roxbury High School, 2023–24.
06 — History
How the sections formed
Explosives
Kenvil (then McCainsville) became home to the second dynamite plant in the United States in 1872, later operated by Hercules Powder until 1996.
Resort era
From the 1880s through the 1940s, Landing served as the rail, canal, steamboat and trolley gateway to Lake Hopatcong.
Postwar growth
After World War II the township's population rose rapidly. By 1955 Roxbury High School was overcrowded enough that the board ended every sending relationship except Mount Arlington's.
Highways
Route 10, US 46 and Interstate 80 run through the township. Route 10 ends at US 46 in Ledgewood; I-80 forms the boundary between Landing and Ledgewood.
07 — Timeline
How it got here
1740
Roxbury formed from portions of Morris Township; formally incorporated under the Township Act of 1798.
c. 1750
A river is dammed to form Brookland Pond — today's Lake Hopatcong.
1831
The Morris Canal opens. Its summit level runs through Port Morris, fed by the lake.
1872
The Atlantic Giant Powder Company opens the second dynamite plant in the U.S. at Kenvil.
1880s–1940s
Landing thrives as Lake Hopatcong's resort gateway.
1888 · 1892
"Suckasunny" becomes Succasunna; Drakesville becomes Ledgewood.
1903
Roxbury High School founded. Mount Arlington students attend from the start.
1922
Hopatcong State Park opens at the lake outlet in Landing.
1924
The Morris Canal closes.
1940
The Hercules Powder plant explosion at Kenvil kills about 51 people.
1955
An overcrowded RHS ends every sending relationship except Mount Arlington's.
1996
The Hercules Kenvil plant closes.
2004
The NJ Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act passes.
2013 · 2025
Roxbury conforms its Preservation Area, then its Planning Area, to the Highlands plan.
2023–24
RHS economically disadvantaged share reaches 20.2%; Hispanic share 25.8%.