The Power of Water

25 miles

To get to Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park from West Orange, the iPhone sent us there via small local roads instead of the Garden State Parkway. I'm usually happy to avoid traffic and tolls, but the problem with blindly following directions on this alternate route was that we didn't see the usual signage directing us to the park as we got closer.  On top of that, the streets of Paterson were super congested with kids getting out of school nearby, so we had a little trouble figuring out exactly where we were supposed to park the car. But after an extra trip around the block, we managed to find a spot in the lot next to Overlook Park.

In 1792, Paterson, NJ had its beginnings as America's first planned city of industry. Founded by Alexander Hamilton, he and a group of investors also started New Jersey's first corporation, the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures (S.U.M.) The S.U.M. built the country's first multi-tiered waterpower system along the Passaic River above the Great Falls. With the power of the river channeled into a series of raceways, any enterprise with financial backing could lease a spot along the Passaic River for their factory or mill. From the 1800s to World War II, the variety of products manufactured in Paterson included: locomotives, Colt revolvers, silk, paper, and Wright aircraft engines.

Currently there is no visitor center, but an information table is staffed onsite at the overlook from 9:00AM - 4:00PM, Wednesday - Sunday. After getting my passport stamps, R and I walked around for a bit. The footbridge across the river was closed due to safety concerns, so we had to take the long way around to Mary Ellen Kramer Park on the other side. 

The Great Falls (77 feet) drops up to 2 million gallons of water per day,
the second largest waterfall by volume east of the Mississippi River.

View from the opposite side

Also included as part of Paterson Great Falls NHP is Hinchliffe Stadium, one of only two Negro League ballparks still in existence. After decades of neglect, it underwent a multi-million dollar renovation and had its grand reopening just last month. Here's a Sports Illustrated piece by Tom Verducci about the Hinchliffe Stadium story - a really good read!

Having finished our visit in Paterson, we headed back to Parsippany, with a quick stop at Staples to buy another SD card for my DSLR. I suspect that I'll be taking a lot of photos tomorrow, and I didn't want to have to worry about space.  

Oh, and we finally had some pic-worthy food from Lo Sfizio Italian Street Food for dinner tonight. 

Chicken cutlet sandwich, chocolate lava cake, limoncello truffle,
assorted fried goodies (zucchini, eggplant, potato croquette, and battered stuffed zucchini flower)