Thomas Edison National Historical Park preserves Thomas Edison'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 Henry Hudson Holly (1832-1892) was an American architect who, in his generation, was one of the best-known architects with a practice spanning the entire United States. He is probably best remembered as the author of three architectural books. "H ...

. 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 The Black Maria ( ) was Thomas Edison's film production studio in West Orange, New Jersey. It was the world's first film studio. History In 1893, the world's first film production studio, the Black Maria, or the cinematographic Theater, wa ...

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

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 The Eastlake movement was a nineteenth-century architectural and household design reform movement started by British architect and writer Charles Eastlake (1836–1906). The movement is generally considered part of the late Victorian period in t ...

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 Charles Edison (August 3, 1890 – July 31, 1969) was an American politician, businessman, inventor and animal behaviorist. He was the Assistant and then United States Secretary of the Navy, and served as the 42nd governor of New Jersey. Commonly ...

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, the alternative rock band They Might Be Giants 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 ''Factory Showroom'' is the sixth studio album by the American rock band They Might Be Giants. It was released in 1996 by Elektra Records. The album reclaims the more diverse and electronic sound of their early work, but differed from previous ...

'' 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.

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

Properties

History

In popular culture

See also

References

External links