Local Politics: Material Progress and Economy
A “New Era” of Big Business and Small Government?
Unbridled faith in Americans economic prosperity shaped the politics of the 1920s. By the end of World War I, the Progressive zeal of the early 1900s waned giving way to the philosophy that government should be run like a business. This shift coincided with a growing fixation on individual material gains over social and economic uplift.
During the 1920s, Morristown elected two mayors who undertook major infrastructure initiatives, albeit in a fiscally responsible manner. This merged progressive ideals of active and effective governance with the idea that the Town must run efficiently and economically.
Mayor David Barkman reconstructed Water Street; extended sewer service; resurfaced Abbott Avenue; and re-built the Lake Pocahontas Dam.
Mayor Clyde Potts spent his four mayoral terms paving new roads; improving and maintaining parks and playgrounds; and increasing the efficiency of municipal departments. Mayor Potts also pushed for historical markers to commemorate Morristown’s heritage.
Town Owned Water Supply
For years, the town struggled to provide clean, uncontaminated drinking water to the residents and business owners of Morristown. Mayor David Barkman advocated for purchasing the Morris Aqueduct Company’s facilities to meet resident’s needs. Mayor Clyde Potts secured the funding to implement Barkman’s plan, and the municipally operated water plant was realized on December 15, 1923.
Centralized Municipal Activities and Consolidated Departments
Unable to function adequately in the town administration’s old offices, Mayor David Barkman negotiated the purchase of Vail Mansion for use as the town’s Municipal Building. Starting in 1923, his successor, Mayor Clyde Potts began consolidating municipal offices and streamlining all departments. Divisions started moving into the new Municipal Building, and the process was completed in 1926.
David F. Barkman practiced law in Morristown beginning in 1897. He served two terms as Mayor of Morristown from 1919 to 1922. He reconstructed Water Street; extended sewer service; resurfaced Abbott Avenue; and re-built the Lake Pocahontas Dam.
Clyde Potts graduated from Cornell University in 1901 and pursued a career as a Civil Engineer. He was the town’s longest serving Mayor; over two eleven-year periods, first from 1923 to 1934, and then again from 1937 to 1948. He spent his four mayoral terms in the 1920s paving new roads; improving and maintaining parks and playgrounds; and increasing the efficiency of municipal departments. Mayor Potts also pushed for historical markers to commemorate Morristown’s heritage.
Morristown Zoning Ordinance, 1928
Morristown Municipal Records Collection
In 1924, Mayor Clyde Potts pushed for adoption of a Zoning Ordinance, which empowered a Zoning Commission to work with the town’s Building Inspector to oversee the planning of commercial and residential developments in town, as to not permit the deterioration of property values. It was approved on December 21, 1928.
A Zoning Map of Morristown was prepared by the Zoning Commission and Building inspector in 1928, to supplement the Morristown Zoning Ordinance.
Mrs. Luetta H. Barkman was Morristown’s first woman to run in a mayor primary race. She was active in many women’s social and political organizations in Morristown and Morris County. She ran against Mayor Clyde Potts in the Republican primary for Mayor with the campaign promise to lower taxes while still advancing the town’s well-being. The vote was 2,529 to 1,222, giving Mayor Clyde Potts a victor of 2-1. While she did not win, she did win the Second District of the First Ward, her own home district. On May 16, 1928, the local newspaper The Jerseyman reported that the Republican Mayoral primary election showed unprecedented interest in voters; one of the heaviest primary votes in the history of the town.