wetland, and farmland, some working and some former. Concerned about maintaining the town's scenic, rural character, a group of residents in 2006 created the not-for-profit Morris Land Trust, where conservation easements would permanently limit non-farm development and protect agricultural resources. The largest acquisition was the 2017 transfer of the Farnham farm, which had been in the same family since 1735—an addition made possible by financial support from the Connecticut Farmland Trust. The property includes "farm fields, stone walls, meandering streams, wetlands, diverse forest habitat, and a portion of the Mattatuck Trail." The land trust continued to seek additions of property consistent with a strategic plan that set priorities for land acquisition. Funding remained an ongoing challenge. Serving as the water supply for the City of Waterbury, the Pitch Reservoir and most of the Morris Reservoir, as well as their wooded watersheds, had also been dedicated open space since the early 1900s. They connected to the Shepaug Reservoir in Warren through a tunnel, completed in 1926, that ran under Bantam Lake. Education A well-educated populace was essential to the town's—and region's—civic health and economic well-being. Since at least the 1850s, the story of Morris's schools had been one of consolidation and extension—from several common schools to one elementary school; from three upper grades to local to regional high school. At the time of its incorporation, Morris had six separate school districts, each with its one-room common school (ages 6–14) and single teacher. Though public high schools began to appear elsewhere in Connecticut during the 1850s, Morris families could pay tuition for their children to continue their education at the Morris Academy. Litchfield High School also became an option in mid- to late century, initially on a tuition basis. The Morris Academy closed in 1888 following a long-term decline in enrollment. A significant factor was competition from publicly funded public schooling, which the state had mandated and begun to support financially twenty years before. In 1904, 142 of 158 registered Morris voters approved a proposal to provide instruction for students up to the age of 17. Older pupils were taught in the Congregational minister's home. Later they moved to the Center School, which was raised to include a room on the second floor; younger children continued in the one room on the first. Students who wanted a diploma could complete their final year of high school in Litchfield. Until 1910, children in