Menlo Park, New Jersey

Last updated

Menlo Park, New Jersey
Location map of Middlesex County, New Jersey.svg
Red pog.svg
Menlo Park
Location of Menlo Park in Middlesex County Inset: Location of county within the state of New Jersey
USA New Jersey location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Menlo Park
Menlo Park (New Jersey)
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Menlo Park
Menlo Park (the United States)
Coordinates: 40°33′54″N74°20′15″W / 40.56500°N 74.33750°W / 40.56500; -74.33750
Country Flag of the United States.svg  United States
State Flag of New Jersey.svg  New Jersey
County Middlesex
Township Edison
Elevation
[1]
141 ft (43 m)
GNIS feature ID878259 [1]

Menlo Park is an unincorporated community within Edison Township in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. [2] [3]

In 1876, Thomas Edison set up his home and research laboratory in Menlo Park, at the time an unsuccessful real estate development named after the town of Menlo Park, California. [4] In this lab, which was one of the first to pursue practical, commercial applications of research, [5] Edison invented the phonograph and developed a commercially viable incandescent light bulb filament. Christie Street in Menlo Park was one of the first streets in the world to use electric lights for illumination. [6] In 1887, Edison moved his home and laboratory to West Orange. [7] After his death, the Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Museum was constructed near his old Menlo Park lab and dedicated in 1938. Edison's old lab site and memorial now make up Edison State Park. [8]

The municipality in which Menlo Park is located, which was called "Raritan Township" while Edison was alive, was changed to Edison Township on November 10, 1954. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Edison</span> American inventor and businessman (1847–1931)

Thomas Alva Edison 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 inventions, which include the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and early versions of the electric light bulb, have had a widespread impact on the modern industrialized world. He was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of organized science and teamwork to the process of invention, working with many researchers and employees. He established the first industrial research laboratory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Jersey Route 27</span> Highway in New Jersey

Route 27 is a state highway in New Jersey, United States. It runs 38.53 mi (62.01 km) from U.S. Route 206 (US 206) in Princeton, Mercer County northeast to an interchange with Route 21 and Broad Street in Newark, Essex County. The route passes through many communities along the way, including New Brunswick, Highland Park, Edison, Metuchen, Rahway, and Elizabeth. Route 27 is a two- to four-lane undivided highway for most of its length, passing through a variety of urban and suburban environments. It intersects many roads along the way, including Route 18 in New Brunswick, Interstate 287 (I-287) in Edison, the Garden State Parkway in Woodbridge Township, Route 35 in Rahway, Route 28 in Elizabeth, and U.S. Route 22 in Newark. Route 27 crosses the Raritan River on the Albany Street Bridge, which connects Highland Park on the east with New Brunswick on the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edison, New Jersey</span> Township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States

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 and is a bedroom community of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township was the state's sixth-most-populous municipality, with a population of 107,588, an increase of 7,621 (+7.6%) from the 2010 census count of 99,967, which in turn reflected an increase of 2,280 (+2.3%) from the 97,687 counted in the 2000 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Ott</span> American scientist and film actor

Frederick Paul Ott, skilled machinist, was a key employee of Thomas Edison's laboratories from the 1870s until Edison's death in 1931. His likeness appears in two of the earliest surviving motion pictures – the well-known Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze and the little-seen Fred Ott Holding a Bird – both from 1894.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Index of New Jersey–related articles</span>

The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the U.S. state of New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Jersey</span> Place in New Jersey, United States

Central Jersey is the central region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The designation of Central New Jersey is a distinct administrative toponym. While the State of New Jersey is often divided into North Jersey and South Jersey, many residents, including the governor, Phil Murphy, recognize Central Jersey as a distinct entity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Batchelor</span> American inventor (1845–1910)

Charles W. Batchelor was an inventor and close associate of American inventor Thomas Alva Edison during much of Edison's career. He was involved in some of the greatest inventions and technological developments in history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Museum</span> United States historic place

The Thomas Edison Center at Menlo Park, also known as the Menlo Park Museum / Edison Memorial Tower, is a memorial to inventor and businessman Thomas Alva Edison, located in the Menlo Park area of Edison, Middlesex County, New Jersey. The tower was dedicated on February 11, 1938, on what would have been the inventor's 91st birthday.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Edison National Historical Park</span> National Historical Park of the United States

Thomas Edison National Historical Park preserves Thomas Edison's laboratory and residence, Glenmont, in West Orange, New Jersey, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Llewellyn Park</span> Populated place in Essex County, New Jersey, US

Llewellyn Park is a historic gated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within West Orange in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Llewellyn Park is thought to be the country's first planned residential community, and the site of the first large-scale naturalization of crocus, narcissus, and jonquils. The community features 175 homes on 425 acres (172 ha) and is located 12 miles (19 km) west of New York City.

Thomas Edison (1847–1931) was an American inventor and businessman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roosevelt Park (Edison, New Jersey)</span>

Roosevelt Park is a 217-acre park located in central east Edison, New Jersey, at Parsonage Road and U.S. Route 1, just west of Menlo Park Mall. Established in 1933 in what was then Raritan Township, the park is considered the oldest park in the Middlesex County Park System. It is owned and operated by the county government.

Theodore Miller Edison was an American businessman, inventor, and environmentalist. He was the fourth son and youngest child of inventor Thomas Edison, and founder of Calibron Industries, Inc. He was the third child of Edison with his second wife, Mina Miller Edison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General Electric Research Laboratory</span> United States historic place

General Electric Research Laboratory was the first industrial research facility in the United States. Established in 1900, the lab was home to the early technological breakthroughs of General Electric and created a research and development environment that set the standard for industrial innovation for years to come. It developed into GE Global Research that now covers an array of technological research, ranging from healthcare to transportation systems, at multiple locations throughout the world. Its campus in Schenectady, New York was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Orange, New Jersey</span> Township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States

West Orange is a suburban township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edison State Park</span> State park in New Jersey, United States

The Edison State Park is located in the Menlo Park section of Edison, New Jersey. It is located on Christie Street, the first street in the world to be lit up by lightbulb, just off Lincoln Highway, near the Metropark Train Station. It covers a total area of 37 acres (0.15 km2). The park commemorates the site where the famous inventor Thomas Alva Edison had his Menlo Park laboratory. In his laboratory, Edison invented over 600 inventions such as the incandescent electric light and the phonograph, the latter being the first object to record and play sound.

Edison laboratory or laboratories refers to one of American inventor and businessman Thomas Edison's labs:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piscatawaytown, New Jersey</span> Populated place in Middlesex County, New Jersey, US

Piscatawaytown is the oldest neighborhood in Edison in Middlesex County, New Jersey. It was established in the 1660s as the original village in what was then within Piscataway. Piscatawaytown is centered around St. James Church, the Piscatawaytown Burial Ground and the Piscatawaytown Common, near the intersection of Plainfield and Woodbridge Avenues.

References

  1. 1 2 "Menlo Park". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. Locality Search, State of New Jersey. Accessed February 10, 2015.
  3. Spies, Stacy (2001), Edison, Arcadia Publishing, ISBN   9780738505497
  4. "The Origin of New Jersey Place Names", New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945, p. 20.
  5. Gordon, John Steele. "10 Moments That Made American Business". American Heritage . No. February/March 2007. Archived from the original on April 20, 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2017. But even more important than the inventions themselves was the process. Laboratories in the past had mostly pursued pure research, with little or no regard for the practical applications that might flow from that research. Menlo Park was all about practical application, turning ideas into products that would have commercial potential.
  6. Township History Archived 2016-07-07 at the Wayback Machine , Township of Edison. Accessed June 22, 2016.
  7. Thomas Edison and Menlo Park, The Thomas Edison Center at Menlo Park. Accessed June 21, 2016. "In 1886, Edison started building a new facility in West Orange, New Jersey. In 1887, his laboratory moved out of Menlo Park and into the new, much larger laboratory in West Orange."
  8. About Us, Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Museum. Accessed March 22, 2012.
  9. Snyder, John P. The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606–1968, Bureau of Geology and Topography, Trenton, New Jersey, 1969. p. 170 re Edison Township, p. 173 re Raritan Township. Accessed November 20, 2016.