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The mills and factories that were powered by the Great Falls are in various states of repair. Some have disappeared. Others, like the Samuel Colt Gun Mill are ruins thanks to arsonists and neglect from the city of Paterson. Still other buildings have been converted to housing, light manufacturing, a school and the Paterson Museum. The latter is the building in the background of the top photo.
The museum fills the ground floor of the former Rogers Locomotive Works. Some 6200 locomotives were manufactured in that building. Engine 299, which sits right outside was not one of them. It was built by ALCO-Cooke after Rogers closed shop. The two most famous Rogers' locomotives are Engine No. 119, which was the westbound Union-Pacific train that met an eastbound train at Promontory, Utah when the Golden Spike completed the trans-continental railroad and The General, which was involved in the Great Locomotive Chase of the Civil War. Old Engine 299 was used to build the Panama Canal and was returned to Paterson in 1979.
Also in the Paterson Museum are two submarines. Not just any submarines, these are the first two practical submarines. Irish immigrant John Holland built the Holland I and tested it in 1878 above the falls in the Passaic River. It wasn't ready for prime time so Holland scuttled it in the river. The submarine was raised from the river in 1927 to much publicity. It is said that a local sandwich maker noted the resemblence between the underwater vessel and the sandwiches he made. The Holland II, or Fenian Ram, was tested in New York Bay in 1881. It had a crew of three, could submerge to 50 feet, and had a surface speed of nine knots.
Those are just a couple highlights of the museum. The engine for Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis was built in Paterson by the Wright Aeronautical Corporation, which at its peak had five manufacturing plants in Paterson, and a sister engine is in the museum. There are also many looms and other items from the silk industry, which at its peak a century ago produced sixty percent of the world's silken goods.
There's more, but I don't want to spoil everything. You, whoever you are, should go. Admission for adults is two dollars and the guys there are not only friendly and happy to see you, they are also surprised to have a visitor! I spent about an hour there and was the only visitor in the museum for most of that time.
wow, what good stuff. Love the mill photo and the train is amazing.
Posted by: judy | 28 October 2010 at 10:19 PM