Minerals from the United States

The Rock and Mineral Gallery is part of the Morris Museum's permanent exhibition.

The museum’s geological collection, considered one of the best in New Jersey, is home to numerous specimens from throughout the world, but has a focus on the state’s own mineralogical profile. In fact, the geological collection represents 100 percent of New Jersey’s minerals, including Franklin and Watchung Mountain materials.

In the Rock and Mineral Gallery, visitors can experience a variety of geological specimens in an interactive, hands-on setting or walk into a dark “cave” in which they can enjoy the fluorescent properties of certain pieces in a specialized light setting.

The museum is proud to host a display of “Favorite Minerals from the Morris Museum Mineralogical Society,” made possible by individual lenders from the society, in addition to its subject-specific cases addressing different types of minerals, how minerals obtain their unique and often brilliant colors and the making of synthetic gems. Additionally, visitors can compare and contrast the three different types of rock (igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic) in a side-by-side exhibit.