Downtown Paterson is the main commercial district of
Paterson,
Passaic County, in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
. The area is the oldest part of the city, along the banks of the
Passaic River
The Passaic River ( or ) is a river, approximately long, in North Jersey, northern New Jersey. The river in its upper course flows in a highly circuitous route, meandering through the swamp lowlands between the ridge hills of rural and suburb ...
and its
Great Falls. It is roughly bounded by
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...
,
Garret Mountain Reservation,
Route 19, Oliver Street, and Spruce Street on the south; the Passaic River, West Broadway, Cliff Street, North 3rd Street, Haledon Avenue, and the borough of
Prospect Park on the west; and the Passaic River also to the north.
Overview
After a devastating fire in 1902, the city rebuilt the downtown with massive
Beaux-Arts-style buildings, many of which remain to this day.
and are contributing properties to the Downtown Commercial Historic District. These buildings are usually four to seven stories tall. Downtown Paterson is home to
City Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
and the
Passaic County Court House, two of the city's architectural landmarks. City Hall was designed by the New York firm Carrere and Hastings in 1894 and is modeled after the Hôtel de Ville (city hall) in
Lyon
Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
, France, capital of the silk industry in Europe. Downtown abounds with buildings designed by
Fred Wesley Wentworth, some in collaboration with his draftsman and later partner Frederick J. Vreeland, who worked in the city from the turn of the century to the 1930s. The
Cathedral of St. John the Baptist survived the fire. As the county seat Paterson is home to the
Passaic County Court House complex,
Passaic County Community College, and several federal and state offices.
Center City Mall is a shopping mall at 301 Main Street opened in 2009. The massive Masjid Jalalabad mosque, which can accommodate 1,500 worshippers, is located on Van Houten Street.
Paterson Broadway Bus Terminal is a major regional bus terminal. Downtown has a diverse ethnic makeup with large
Dominican,
Puerto Rican,
Peruvian
Peruvians (''/peruanas'') are the citizens of Peru. What is now Peru has been inhabited for several millennia by cultures such as the Caral before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. Peruvian population decreased from an estimated 5–9 ...
, and
Mexican populations.
Little Lima is the largest
Peruvian American enclave in the United States.
Historic district
The Paterson Downtown Commercial Historic District is a
historic district
A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...
containing parts of Main, Market, Ellison, Van Houten, Broadway, West Broadway, Fair, Prospect, Cianci, Church, Colt, Washington and Hamilton streets in downtown Paterson. It was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
on February 12, 1999 for its significance in architecture, commerce, and community planning and development. The district includes 210
contributing buildings
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic dist ...
and one
contributing object. It includes the
Paterson City Hall, which was added individually to the NRHP in 1995.
[ With ] The
Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park and
Public School Number Two are located nearby.
Tallest commercial buildings
CBD, SID, and UEZ
The
central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...
of Paterson is the area closest to the Passaic River on the west side of the city. The areas along Market Street and Main Street are some of the busiest and largest commercial districts in Paterson. Downtown was once a shopping mecca for
northern New Jersey. As with many other older urban cores in the United States, it suffered as shoppers and retailers moved to the suburban shopping malls of the region. For a large part, Downtown retailers are "mom and pop" retailers who employ local residents. In 1997, a
special improvement district (SID) created by Merchants and Businesses of Downtown Paterson, comprising over 300 stakeholders, updated storefronts and beautified city streets with signage and lighting. Downtown SID employees supplement the municipal cleaning, informational, and safety services of the city by maintaining a "Clean and Safe" staff. The association participates in many city activities with sponsorships such as the Great Falls Festival and the annual
4th of July
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama
...
fireworks show, one of Northern New Jersey's largest. Additionally, the SID implements several events throughout the year in Downtown Paterson. Downtown Paterson was an
Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ), which means that participating stores sell merchandise at 3.5% sales tax, instead of the normal 7% sales tax. The UEZ also invested greatly in Downtown Paterson and the entire stretch of Main Street, with a beautification project. New street furniture such as benches, garbage cans, newspaper kiosks, bus shelters, clocks, bike racks have been installed.
Dublin Area
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, considered the first neighborhood of Paterson, was built up around the mills near
Great Falls. The area, which is responsible for the early growth of Paterson, has a rich history and has had a diverse and changing ethnic makeup. Originally settled by
Irish immigrants, the neighborhood has seen waves of
English,
Italians
Italians (, ) are a European peoples, European ethnic group native to the Italian geographical region. Italians share a common Italian culture, culture, History of Italy, history, Cultural heritage, ancestry and Italian language, language. ...
and more recently
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
immigrants. The Dublin area today incorporates parts of
Old Great Falls Historic District and the area on Market Street, which has a large
Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
vian and
Argentine
Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...
population today.
Wrigley Park
Wrigley Park is the northern section of downtown, north of Broadway and to the east of the Passaic River. Wrigley Park is a predominantly
African-American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
community and is mostly residential. The area is considered to be one of the more dangerous sections of Paterson along with areas of the
Northside, although the crime rate has declined gradually in recent years.
The Northside
Northside is a mostly residential neighborhood on the north bank of the Passaic River. The neighborhood stretches back to Paterson's borders with
Haledon and
Prospect Park. The neighborhoods on this side of the river are up a steep hill that gives many of the houses and streets in the Northside great views of
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
.
Transportation
Train service began with the
Paterson and Hudson River Railroad in 1833. Erie Railroad ran service on its
Newark Branch and Main Line. The
Paterson rail station is located in Downtown. Paterson is served by
New Jersey Transit
New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit or NJTransit and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of the states of New York and Pennsylvania. It ...
on the
Main Line and limited service on the
Port Jervis Line.
The
Broadway Bus Terminal is the point of origin for numerous
New Jersey Transit Bus Operations
NJ Transit Bus Operations is the bus division of NJ Transit, providing local and commuter bus service throughout New Jersey and adjacent areas of New York State (Manhattan in New York City, Rockland County, and Orange County) and Pennsylvani ...
'
local
Local may refer to:
Geography and transportation
* Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand
* Local, Missouri, a community in the United States
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...
and
Manhattan-bound bus lines.
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...
passes south of Downtown.
New Jersey Route 19, known as the Paterson Peripheral, connects Interstate 80 and the
Garden State Parkway
The Garden State Parkway (GSP) is a Controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll road that stretches the north–south length of eastern New Jersey from the state's southernmost tip near Cape May, New Jersey, Cape May north to the New York ...
to Downtown where it becomes Ward Street.
See also
*
Paterson Armory
References
External links
PatersonHistory.com
{{NJ tallest buildings lists
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey
Beaux-Arts architecture in New Jersey
Neighborhoods in Paterson, New Jersey
National Register of Historic Places in Passaic County, New Jersey
Fred Wesley Wentworth buildings
New Jersey Register of Historic Places
Paterson