Great Falls of Paterson, NJ
June 11, 2010 - The Great Falls / S.U.M. National Historic Landmark district is a 118-acre industrial historic site located in Paterson, New Jersey. Located just 12 miles west of New York City, it is home to the largest and best example of early manufacturing mills in the United States. It contains 18th, 19th, and 20th-century waterpower remnants, including a three-tiered water raceway system. At the district's core is the natural landmark Great Falls, the second largest waterfall by volume east of the Mississippi. The 77-foot tall falls, engineered raceways and mills form a complex that is unique and irreplaceable to our nation. It has been described as America's very first systematic attempt to develop extensive waterpower for manufacturing purposes.
In 1791, Alexander Hamilton and a group of investors created the S.U.M., the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures, to harness the tremendous power of the Passaic Great Falls. They hired Pierre Charles L'Enfant to design the largest, most significant power system at that time, one that diverted water from the Passaic River above the falls to mills along its route. It was the boldest private enterprise ever conceived in the early days of the United States. Hamilton envisioned an industrialized America and the creation of this raceway system was his ambitious example of how corporations could be organized to develop manufacturing on a large scale. With this enterprise, along with the law, finance and incentives he put in place as the nation's first Secretary of the Treasurer, Hamilton forged the basis of American capitalism. The planned industrialization of this historic place is the realization of the Hamiltonian vision of an industrialized America. This is truly a founding father's site.
The City of Paterson, along with other manufacturing centers across New England, eventually created great wealth from the combination of waterpower, machines, labor, and capital. Paterson achieved prominence in the national economy undreamed of by its founder. The waterpower system fostered many technological advances in industry, such as the first cotton duck cloth for sails, the first continuous sheet paper, the first revolver by Samuel Colt, and the first practical submarine by John Holland. Paterson became the world's center for the production of cotton, silk and locomotives. This great industrial center attracted skilled artisans from all over Europe and the tremendous economic activity that arose here triggered the "Silk Strike" of 1913, when the skilled workers demanded an eight-hour day. This was truly an important emergence of America's industrial prosperity and the labor rights movement.
Please see http://www.patersongreatfalls.org/ for more historic information.
Read MoreIn 1791, Alexander Hamilton and a group of investors created the S.U.M., the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures, to harness the tremendous power of the Passaic Great Falls. They hired Pierre Charles L'Enfant to design the largest, most significant power system at that time, one that diverted water from the Passaic River above the falls to mills along its route. It was the boldest private enterprise ever conceived in the early days of the United States. Hamilton envisioned an industrialized America and the creation of this raceway system was his ambitious example of how corporations could be organized to develop manufacturing on a large scale. With this enterprise, along with the law, finance and incentives he put in place as the nation's first Secretary of the Treasurer, Hamilton forged the basis of American capitalism. The planned industrialization of this historic place is the realization of the Hamiltonian vision of an industrialized America. This is truly a founding father's site.
The City of Paterson, along with other manufacturing centers across New England, eventually created great wealth from the combination of waterpower, machines, labor, and capital. Paterson achieved prominence in the national economy undreamed of by its founder. The waterpower system fostered many technological advances in industry, such as the first cotton duck cloth for sails, the first continuous sheet paper, the first revolver by Samuel Colt, and the first practical submarine by John Holland. Paterson became the world's center for the production of cotton, silk and locomotives. This great industrial center attracted skilled artisans from all over Europe and the tremendous economic activity that arose here triggered the "Silk Strike" of 1913, when the skilled workers demanded an eight-hour day. This was truly an important emergence of America's industrial prosperity and the labor rights movement.
Please see http://www.patersongreatfalls.org/ for more historic information.
