What is now Route 53 was once part of a
Lenape trail running from Morristown to Denville Township. In 1916, present-day Route 53 was designated as part of
pre-1927 Route 5, which ran from
Delaware in
Warren County east to
Newark. In the
1927 New Jersey state highway renumbering, this route became
Route 6 (now US 46) between Delaware and Denville,
Route 32 (now US 202) between
Morris Plains and
Morristown, and
Route 24 (now
Route 124) between Morristown and Newark. The portion of pre-1927 Route 5 between Morris Plains and Denville, however, was not replaced by a different route and became Route 5N to distinguish it from a newly created
Route 5. The northern terminus of Route 5N was at US 46/Route 6 (Bloomfield Avenue) in Denville Township; when those routes were moved to a bypass, Route 5N's northern terminus remained at Bloomfield Avenue. In the
1953 New Jersey state highway renumbering, Route 5N was renumbered to Route w53. In 1966, a
freeway was planned for the Route 53 corridor, intended to reduce traffic congestion. The freeway was intended to run from a planned Route 24 freeway in Morris Plains and continue north, crossing I-80 and
Route 23 before ending at a planned
Route 208 freeway near
Greenwood Lake in
Passaic County that would connect to the
New York State Route 208 freeway that was to continue north into
Orange County, New York. In 1967, the northern terminus of the Route 53 freeway was cut back to I-80. This freeway was designated Route 178 in 1969. Right-of-way acquisition began for the freeway but was stopped in 1971 due to lack of funds. The freeway was officially cancelled in 1975 when NJDOT did not include it in the five-year highway program. Despite the cancellation of the proposed freeway, several large corporations in Morris County pushed for the freeway to be built as it would reduce commuter traffic on Route 53 and US 202 in the area. ==Major intersections==