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Thomas Edison National Historical Park preserves
The park comprises two properties in West Orange: the second Edison Laboratories complex and Edison's home in Llewellyn Park about to the west at .
The laboratory complex comprises the industrial facility built by Edison in 1887 to research and develop his inventions. The complex includes more than a dozen buildings that supported Edison's research into electricity, photography, motion pictures, chemistry, metallurgy and other disciplines. A private library was attached to the main laboratory building. Specialty heavy and precision machine shops made tooling and prototypes. Edison's Black Maria was the world's first movie studio, and the building could be rotated on a turntable to keep sunlight on film subjects. It was reconstructed in 1954.
Edison's Queen Anne style home was designed by Henry Hudson Holly and built between 1880 and 1882 for Henry Pedder. It originally comprised 23 rooms. The mansion was built with gravity-convection central heat, indoor flush toilets, and hot and cold piped water. Pedder was found to have embezzled funds from his employer to build Glenmont, and was forced to surrender the estate, which Edison bought in 1886 for $125,000 (equal to $ today), moving in with his newly married second wife Mina and his three children from his first marriage. The house retains its original furnishings in an Eastlake style interior. Edison added six more rooms, and electrical wiring.
Edison's children with Mina grew up at Glenmont, including future New Jersey governor Charles Edison and industrialist Theodore Miller Edison
Edison's home was designated as the Edison Home National Historic Site on December 6, 1955. The laboratory was designated as Edison Laboratory National Monument on July 14, 1956. On September 5, 1962, the site containing the home and the laboratory were designated the Edison National Historic Site. On March 30, 2009, it was renamed Thomas Edison National Historical Park, adding "Thomas" to the title in hopes to relieve confusion between the Edison sites in West Orange and
Thomas Edison National Historical Park
- official site
Stained glass restoration
National Park Service {{authority control Thomas Edison Historic house museums in New Jersey West Orange, New Jersey Protected areas established in 1962 Museums in Essex County, New Jersey Edison Technology museums in New Jersey Industry museums in New Jersey National Historical Parks in New Jersey Historic American Buildings Survey in New Jersey Historic American Engineering Record in New Jersey Houses in Essex County, New Jersey Science museums in New Jersey Parks in Essex County, New Jersey Historic districts in Essex County, New Jersey Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey National Historical Parks of the United States
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...
's laboratory and residence, ''Glenmont'', in West Orange, New Jersey
West Orange is a suburban township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from the 46,207 counted in the 2010 Census.
, United States. These were designed, in 1887, by architect Henry Hudson Holly. The Edison laboratories operated for more than 40 years. Out of the West Orange laboratories came the motion picture camera, improved phonographs, sound recordings, silent and sound movies and the nickel-iron alkaline electric storage battery.
Properties
The park comprises two properties in West Orange: the second Edison Laboratories complex and Edison's home in Llewellyn Park about to the west at .
The laboratory complex comprises the industrial facility built by Edison in 1887 to research and develop his inventions. The complex includes more than a dozen buildings that supported Edison's research into electricity, photography, motion pictures, chemistry, metallurgy and other disciplines. A private library was attached to the main laboratory building. Specialty heavy and precision machine shops made tooling and prototypes. Edison's Black Maria was the world's first movie studio, and the building could be rotated on a turntable to keep sunlight on film subjects. It was reconstructed in 1954.
Edison's Queen Anne style home was designed by Henry Hudson Holly and built between 1880 and 1882 for Henry Pedder. It originally comprised 23 rooms. The mansion was built with gravity-convection central heat, indoor flush toilets, and hot and cold piped water. Pedder was found to have embezzled funds from his employer to build Glenmont, and was forced to surrender the estate, which Edison bought in 1886 for $125,000 (equal to $ today), moving in with his newly married second wife Mina and his three children from his first marriage. The house retains its original furnishings in an Eastlake style interior. Edison added six more rooms, and electrical wiring.
Edison's children with Mina grew up at Glenmont, including future New Jersey governor Charles Edison and industrialist Theodore Miller Edison
History
Edison's home was designated as the Edison Home National Historic Site on December 6, 1955. The laboratory was designated as Edison Laboratory National Monument on July 14, 1956. On September 5, 1962, the site containing the home and the laboratory were designated the Edison National Historic Site. On March 30, 2009, it was renamed Thomas Edison National Historical Park, adding "Thomas" to the title in hopes to relieve confusion between the Edison sites in West Orange and Edison, New Jersey
Edison is a township located in Middlesex County,in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated in Central New Jersey within the core of the state's Raritan Valley region, Edison is a commercial hub, home to Menlo Park Mall and Little India. It ...
. Following extensive renovations of the laboratory complex, there was a grand reopening on October 10, 2009.
In popular culture
In 1996, thealternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...
band They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants (often abbreviated as TMBG) is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a duo, often accompanied by a dr ...
recorded four songs on phonograph cylinder
Phonograph cylinders are the earliest commercial medium for recording and reproducing sound. Commonly known simply as "records" in their era of greatest popularity (c. 1896–1916), these hollow cylindrical objects have an audio recording engra ...
at the museum. One of these recordings, of the song "I Can Hear You", appeared on their album '' Factory Showroom'' released later the same year. The other three songs ("Maybe I Know", "The Edison Museum", and a re-recording of the ''Factory''
''Showroom'' track "James K. Polk") were released on the band's website in 2002.
See also
* Edison State Park * Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Museum *National Register of Historic Places listings in Essex County, New Jersey
List of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Essex County, New Jersey
__NOTOC__
This is intended to be a complete list of properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Essex County, New Jersey. ...
* Edison Storage Battery Company Building
* List of museums in New Jersey
References
External links
Thomas Edison National Historical Park
- official site
Stained glass restoration
National Park Service {{authority control Thomas Edison Historic house museums in New Jersey West Orange, New Jersey Protected areas established in 1962 Museums in Essex County, New Jersey Edison Technology museums in New Jersey Industry museums in New Jersey National Historical Parks in New Jersey Historic American Buildings Survey in New Jersey Historic American Engineering Record in New Jersey Houses in Essex County, New Jersey Science museums in New Jersey Parks in Essex County, New Jersey Historic districts in Essex County, New Jersey Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey National Historical Parks of the United States