Paterson Museum is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

in Paterson, in Passaic County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Founded in 1925, it is owned and run by the city of Paterson and its mission is to preserve and display the industrial history of Paterson. It is located in the

Old Great Falls Historic District 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 Paterso ...

. Since 1982 the museum has been housed in the Thomas Rogers Building on Market Street, the former erecting shop of

Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works 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 ...

, a major 19th-century manufacturer of

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

steam locomotives A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

. Prior to 1982 the museum was located in the former carriage house of

Nathan Barnert Nathan Barnert (September 20, 1838 – December 23, 1927) was an American businessman and politician. He was twice elected as the Mayor of Paterson, New Jersey, first on April 9, 1883. He was the original founder of the Miriam Barnert Hebrew Free ...

, civic figure and philanthropist.

Inventory

The museum has some notable old-found items. It has a range of old guns, Native American artifacts, to gem stones and old locomotives. Many tours are constantly coming from schools and other towns to inspect and check out these old items. The museum additionally has a beautiful painting collection, although to make room for more 'notable' items, they have put a lot of these paintings into personal hold. The museum has a vast collection of medicine that was used in the early 1900s, along with beautiful paintings of medicine covers. The number of old medicine caps that they have vary in the hundreds. They also have paintings of old hospital assistants, and how life back in the infirmary was in the early years. Notable exhibits include the ''

Fenian Ram ''Fenian Ram'' is a submarine designed by John Philip Holland for use by the Fenian Brotherhood, the American counterpart to the Irish Republican Brotherhood, against the British. The Fenian Ram was the world’s first practical submarine, in ...

'', the

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

John Philip Holland John Philip Holland ( ga, Seán Pilib Ó hUallacháin/Ó Maolchalann) (24 February 184112 August 1914) was an Irish engineer who developed the first submarine to be formally commissioned by the US Navy, and the first Royal Navy submarine, ''Ho ...

for use by the

Fenian Brotherhood The Fenian Brotherhood () was an Irish republican organisation founded in the United States in 1858 by John O'Mahony and Michael Doheny. It was a precursor to Clan na Gael, a sister organisation to the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). M ...

and their earlier '' Holland I''. The museum also houses an archive of Holland's life and work. A large collection of early

Colt Colt(s) or COLT may refer to: *Colt (horse), an intact (uncastrated) male horse under four years of age People * Colt (given name) *Colt (surname) Places *Colt, Arkansas, United States *Colt, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United States ...

firearms and the façade of a playhouse built by

Lou Costello Louis Francis Cristillo (March 6, 1906 – March 3, 1959), professionally known as Lou Costello, was an American comedian, actor and producer. He was best known for his double act with straight man Bud Abbott and their routine " Who's on First? ...

for his children are also on display. There is a display of industrial equipment from the former silk-weaving factories that used to be a prominent part of Paterson's economy, including automated looms. The museum has a railroad track at its entrance, with live toy-model train going around the track.

In popular culture

The museum's first head curator was James Ferdinand Morton Jr., who held the position from the museum's founding in 1925 until his death in 1941. Morton was friends with author H. P. Lovecraft, and based on this friendship, Lovecraft includes the Paterson Museum in a scene in his famous 1926 short story "

The Call of Cthulhu "The Call of Cthulhu" is a short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in the summer of 1926, it was first published in the pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in February 1928. Inspiration The first seed of the story's first chapter '' ...

". Lovecraft's 1935 short story "

The Haunter of the Dark "The Haunter of the Dark" is a horror short story by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written between 5–9 November 1935 and published in the December 1936 edition of ''Weird Tales'' (Vol. 28, No. 5, p. 538–53). It was the last written ...

" includes an artifact called the Shining Trapezohedron; it has been proposed that Lovecraft based this artifact on a trapezoidal piece of

almandine Almandine (), also known as almandite, is a species of mineral belonging to the garnet group. The name is a corruption of alabandicus, which is the name applied by Pliny the Elder to a stone found or worked at Alabanda, a town in Caria in Asia M ...

on display at the Paterson Museum.The Real Shining Trapezohedron

H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society or HPLHS is the organization that hosts Cthulhu Lives!, a group of live-action roleplayers for the '' Cthulhu Live'' version of '' Call of Cthulhu''. Founded in Colorado in 1984, it is now based in Glendal ...

References

External links

*
A History of Paterson — The Rogers Locomotive & Machine Works

— preservation efforts on the remaining Rogers erecting shop building.

Photos of ''Fenian Ram'' at the Paterson Museum {{authority control Buildings and structures in Paterson, New Jersey John Philip Holland Industry museums in New Jersey Museums in Passaic County, New Jersey Museums established in 1925 History museums in New Jersey Railroad museums in New Jersey 1925 establishments in New Jersey