Paterson is the largest city in and the county seat of Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city was the state's third-most-populous municipality, with a population of 159,732, an increase of 13,533 (+9.3%) from the 2010 census count of 146,199, which in turn reflected a decline of 3,023 (-2.0%) from the 149,222 counted in the 2000 census. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 156,661 in 2022, ranking the city as the 165th-most-populous in the country.
The Delaware and Raritan Canal is a canal in central New Jersey, built in the 1830s, that connects the Delaware River to the Raritan River. It was an efficient and reliable means of transportation of freight between Philadelphia and New York City, transporting anthracite coal from eastern Pennsylvania during much of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The canal allowed shippers to cut many miles off the existing route from the Pennsylvania Coal Region down the Delaware, around Cape May, and up the occasionally treacherous Atlantic Ocean coast to New York City.
The Passaic River is a river, approximately 80 miles (130 km) long, in 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 suburban northern New Jersey, called the Great Swamp, draining much of the northern portion of the state through its tributaries.
The Great Falls of the Passaic River is a prominent waterfall, 77 feet (23 m) high, on the Passaic River in the city of Paterson in Passaic County, New Jersey. The falls and surrounding area are protected as part of the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park, administered by the National Park Service. The Congress authorized its establishment in 2009.
The Morris Canal (1829–1924) was a 107-mile (172 km) common carrier anthracite coal canal across northern New Jersey that connected the two industrial canals in Easton, Pennsylvania across the Delaware River from its western terminus at Phillipsburg, New Jersey to New York Harbor and New York City through its eastern terminals in Newark and on the Hudson River in Jersey City. The canal was sometimes called the Morris and Essex Canal, in error, due to confusion with the nearby and unrelated Morris and Essex Railroad.
North Jersey comprises the northern portions of the U.S. state of New Jersey between the upper Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. As a distinct toponym, North Jersey is a colloquial one rather than an administrative one, reflecting geographical and perceived cultural and other differences between it and the southern part of the state.
The Cooke Locomotive and Machine Works, located in Paterson, New Jersey, manufactured steam railroad locomotives from 1852 until it was merged with seven other manufacturers to form American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in 1901.
Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works was a 19th-century manufacturer of railroad steam locomotives based in Paterson, in Passaic County, New Jersey, in the United States. It built more than six thousand steam locomotives for railroads around the world. Most 19th-century U.S. railroads owned at least one Rogers-built locomotive. The company's most famous product was a locomotive named The General, built in December 1855, which was one of the principals of the Great Locomotive Chase of the American Civil War.
New Jersey in the nineteenth century led the United States into the Industrial Revolution. The state sent soldiers, supplies and money to the wars of the period but was not the location of any battles.
Garret Mountain Reservation is a 568-acre (230 ha) park located on First Watchung Mountain in Paterson and Woodland Park in southern Passaic County, New Jersey. In 1967, it was designated a National Natural Landmark as part of the Great Falls of Paterson-Garret Mountain listing. The park extends into Clifton. Garret Mountain is Passaic County's major recreational area, providing the visitors with grass fields, several miles of walking/running trails, basketball courts, picnic areas, Barbour's Pond is state stocked with fish for anglers, as well as an Equestrian Center with horseback riding lessons.
The Lehigh Canal is a navigable canal that begins at the mouth of Nesquehoning Creek on the Lehigh River in the Lehigh Valley and Northeastern regions of Pennsylvania. It was built in two sections over a span of 20 years beginning in 1818. The lower section spanned the distance between Easton and present-day Jim Thorpe. In Easton, the canal met the Delaware and Morris Canals, which allowed anthracite coal and other goods to be transported further up the U.S. East Coast. At its height, the Lehigh Canal was 72 miles (116 km) long.
The Gateway Region is the primary urbanized area of the northeastern section of New Jersey. It is anchored by Newark, the state's most populous city. While sometimes known as the Newark metropolitan area, it is part of the New York metropolitan area.
Dublin is a former Irish-American neighborhood in Paterson, New Jersey that makes up Little Lima and Little Italy today. Dublin was Paterson's first distinct neighborhood that grew up around the mills along the east bank of the Passaic River in Downtown Paterson. Alexander Hamilton established the Society for the Establishment of Useful Manufactures (S.U.M.), which helped to harness the power of Great Falls in 1791. In the early 19th century there were several mills and machine shops along the Passaic, downriver from the falls. A grid of streets were laid out by Pierre L'Enfant for the housing of millworkers in the area. The area then known as Dublin was bound by the Morris Canal, Garret Mountain, and Main Street with a populated area along Market Street. In the early 20th century a growing Italian workforce in the area created the Little Italy neighborhood around Cianci Street. Some of the old mill buildings of the area have been converted into housing and retail in addition to the Paterson Museum.
Downtown Paterson is the main commercial district of Paterson, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The area is the oldest part of the city, along the banks of the Passaic River and its Great Falls. It is roughly bounded by Interstate 80, 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.
The Old Great Falls Historic District is an area of Paterson, New Jersey between South Paterson and Hillcrest, Paterson. The area is a thin strip of neighborhoods and parklands around the Passaic River and Garret Mountain. This section of Paterson has two National Natural Landmarks, Garret Mountain and Great Falls on the Passaic. It is the location of the highest point in Paterson. It is home to Lambert Castle and Alexander Hamilton's Society for the Establishment of Useful Manufactures (S.U.M.), which used the force of Great Falls to power the mills along the Passaic in the Dublin section. The neighborhood is also home to part of Garret Mountain Reservation and Overlook Park around the Grand Street Reservoir. The neighborhood is bounded by the border with Hillcrest by the Passaic River, by the Woodland Park border, the South Paterson border along Valley Road and Route 19. It is separated from Downtown Paterson to the north by Route 19, Oliver Street and Spruce Street.
The Lowell Power Canal System is the largest power canal system in the United States, at 5.6 miles in length. It is operating through six major canals on two levels, controlled by numerous gates. The system was begun in the 1790s, beginning its life as a transportation canal called the Pawtucket Canal, which was constructed to get logs from New Hampshire down the Merrimack River to shipbuilding centers at Newburyport, Massachusetts, bypassing the 30-plus-foot drop of the Pawtucket Falls.
John Ryle was an English-born silk manufacturer, best known for being the "father of the United States silk industry". He was the Mayor of Paterson, New Jersey from 1869 to 1870.
The Dundee Canal was an industrial canal in Clifton and Passaic in Passaic County, New Jersey. It was built between 1858 and 1861 and ran parallel to the Passaic River. It supplied hydropower and water for manufacturing. There was interest by some members of the business community to modify the canal to support navigational uses, but the canal was never used for that purpose.
The Passaic Flood in Northern New Jersey, in the Passaic river valley, began on October 9, 1903, and lasted through October 11. Slow-moving remnants of a tropical storm triggered the flood. 11.4 inches (290 mm) of rain fell within 24 hours on Paterson, New Jersey, which received over 15 inches (380 mm) of rain during the entire event. The Passaic River crested at 17.5 feet (5.3 m) at Little Falls, New Jersey. At the height of the flood, the Passaic river, which ordinarily carries 12,000 cubic feet of water per second, carried about 37,500 cubic feet of water per second. Other than the Passaic, three northern basin tributaries, the Ramapo, Wanaque, and Pequannock also experienced extreme flooding. The Rockaway and the Whippany rivers experienced less flooding. Bridges and dams along the Passaic and Ramapo Rivers were destroyed, including a 27-foot (8.2 m) dam at Pompton Lakes, New Jersey. Flooding encompassed 25 percent of Wallington, 20 percent of Passaic and 10.3 miles of Paterson streets. Additionally, 1,200 Paterson residents were displaced due to the flood. The flood, the most severe in the region since the American Colonial Period, caused $7 million in damage. The Edison Manufacturing Company produced a short documentary film, Flood Scene in Paterson, N.J., shot a few days after the flood. The flood still ranks as New Jersey's worst. It followed a similar course to the Passaic flood of 1902 that had occurred the prior year. The flood occurred on the Passaic floodplain, which was the site of an ancient lake. This massive lake formed 25,000 years ago after a glacier that covered northern New Jersey retreated. Water collected in this basin and a lake resided there for 2,000 years. At its largest, this lake was 30 miles long and 15 miles wide. The lake eventually drained through Great Notch, but this point has a high elevation so the lake took a long time to drain. The lake did not drain at a more efficient, lower-elevation point because the northward retreat of the Wisconsin glacier blocked the earlier, lower-elevation, drainage point. The slow drainage of the lake allowed time for a floodplain to form, increasing the flooding risk that continues today.
