"Drafting Room" by U.S. National Park Service , public domain
Thomas EdisonNational Historical Park - New Jersey |
Thomas Edison National Historical Park preserves Thomas Edison's laboratory and residence, Glenmont, in West Orange, New Jersey. 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.
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Official Visitor Map of Thomas Edison National Historical Park (NHP) in New Jersey. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
Map of the U.S. National Park System. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
Map of the U.S. National Park System with DOI's Unified Regions. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
Map of the U.S. National Heritage Areas. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
brochures
Official Brochure of Thomas Edison National Historical Park (NHP) in New Jersey. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
https://www.nps.gov/edis/index.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison_National_Historical_Park
Thomas Edison National Historical Park preserves Thomas Edison's laboratory and residence, Glenmont, in West Orange, New Jersey. 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.
Today, the brick buildings on Main Street in West Orange, NJ seem quiet, betraying little evidence of the research, development, and innovation of their heyday. Visitors can step back in time to Thomas Edison’s home and laboratory, when machines were run by belts and pulleys and music was played on phonographs. Discover where America’s greatest inventor changed our world forever.
From the Garden State Parkway take exit 145 or from the New Jersey Turnpike take Exit 15W to Route 280 West. Take Route 280 West to Exit 10. Turn right onto Northfield Avenue. At second light turn left onto Main Street. Go about 0.75 mile to parking on left and Laboratory Complex on the right. From Route 280 East take exit 9. Turn left onto Mt. Pleasant Avenue. At second traffic light turn left onto Main Street. Go about 0.50 mile to parking on left and Laboratory Complex on the right.
Laboratory Complex Visitor Center
Thomas Edison Laboratory Complex & Glenmont Grounds will be open to the public Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday. All visitors must begin at the Laboratory Complex. The park is closed to the public from January through mid-March.
From the Garden State Parkway take exit 145 or from the New Jersey Turnpike take Exit 15W to Route 280 West. Take Route 280 West to Exit 10. Turn right onto Northfield Avenue. Left onto Main Street. Go about 0.75 mile to parking on left and Laboratory Complex on the right. From Route 280 East take exit 9. Turn left onto Mt. Pleasant Avenue. At second traffic light turn left onto Main Street. Go about 0.50 mile to parking on left and Laboratory Complex on the right
Glenmont - Home of Thomas Edison
Large salmon colored Victorian mansion with green lawn and blue sky
Thomas Edison purchased Glenmont as a wedding present for his wife Mina in 1886, for the cost of $125,000 USD.
Heavy Machine Shop at the Edison Laboratory Complex
Large work space room with machines connected to belts and pullies
One of main machine shops, where Thomas Edison and his staff worked on research and development, prototypes, and products.
Glenmont Garage
Cream colored, two story cement building surrounded by large trees
Thomas Edison's poured concrete garage houses both electric and gas powered vehicles belonging to the Edison family.
Park Entrance
Small red building next to large brick building with a water tower in the background.
Just as Thomas Edison did every morning, visitors can walk in his footsteps by entering the laboratory complex's iron main gate.
Replica Black Maria
Large black building covered in tar paper surrounded by a barrier fence
The Black Maria was the first building built for the recording of motion pictures. This exact replica of the original was built as a movie set for the film "Edison the Man", starring Spencer Tracy, in 1954.
Partnerships add a Charge to your Travel Plans
The National Park Service, the National Park Foundation, BMW of North America, the U.S. Department of Energy, concessioners, and gateway communities have collaborated to provide new technologies for travel options to and around national parks. As part of this public-private partnership, BMW of North America, working through the National Park Foundation, donated and arranged for the installation of 100 electric vehicle (EV) charging ports in and around national parks.
On Location: An Introduction to Film in National Parks
National parks have provided the backdrop for many iconic American films, including the original "Star Wars" trilogy at Death Valley National Park, "Thelma and Louise" at Canyonlands National Park, and many more. Filmmakers have been recording at National Park Service sites since the early years of motion picture history. While the location might not be the first thing in the credits, these films and television shows shine a spotlight on park landscapes.
A uniformed ranger shakes hands with C3PO, a Star Wars character, in a bare and hilly landscape.
Learning Landscape Preservation at Thomas Edison National Historical Park
For students at Stephen T. Mather Building Arts and Craftsmanship High School in New York City, parks are an extension of the classroom. Along with core academic classes, they learn concepts and skills of preserving historic landscapes and structures, then apply that classroom learning in the field. This year, the tenth grade class sharpened their landscape preservation skills at Thomas Edison National Historical Park.
Mather High School students stand in front of a row of tools on the lawn of Glenmont Estate.
Melting the Amber: Northeast Region Launches Innovative Historic House Pilot
A historic house can be like an ant trapped in amber. What was once alive and growing is sealed in a single sepia-tinted moment. What if we could melt the amber?
Park employees stand on the porch of Thomas Edison's home, Glenmont
Thomas Edison and Military Preparedness
"As new technologies changed military conflict during World War I, Thomas Edison called for industrial preparedness, experimented on some of the Navy's most difficult technical problems and helped the U.S. government prepare for future wars by advocating the creation of the Naval Research Laboratory."
World War I Political Cartoon
Fat Book Week
You've heard of #FatBearWeek...now get ready for #FatBookWeek! In honor of the 10,000+ books in the Longfellow family collection, we called on other literary-minded sites to submit the fattest book in their museum collections for a tournament-style bracket of 10 heavyweight tomes. Check out the bracket, then visit @LONGNPS on Instagram each morning from October 6-12 to vote for your favorite bulky book!
Graphic of a bear with a paw on a stack of books. Text reads "Fat Book Week October 6-12, 2021"
Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison National Historical Park
New Jersey
personified the
age of invention, America’s new frontier in the late 1800s. Though he was best
known for the phonograph and incandescent lamp, perhaps Edison’s greatest
invention was a new way to invent: the industrial research and development
laboratory. Today his largest lab complex is preserved at Thomas Edison National Historical Park. With his teams of scientists and technicians, he perfected
his phonograph and developed motion pictures, a nickel-iron-alkaline storage
battery, and many other devices and technologies. Edison earned 1,093 U.S.
patents in his lifetime, most for inventions that came from here.
main building were separate labs for chemistry, physics, and metallurgy. Though
Edison was the guiding force behind every project, a spirit of camaraderie prevailed among the 100 or so employees. Small teams worked independently on
aspects of projects while Edison made the rounds daily to fine-tune, offering
inspired ”guesses” that usually turned out to be right. He spent most of his time
at the labs, often working overnight and indulging in quick naps in his library.
thing from ballet to boxing. The phonograph and film businesses capitalized
on consumer demand for new forms of entertainment.
Well into old age Edison was trying new things: a technique for poured concrete buildings, a fluoroscope to view x-ray images, methods for manufacturing large quantities of chemicals, huge machines for extracting iron from ore
and for manufacturing cement. His final search was for a domestic source of
rubber. Thomas Edison died in 1931. The West Orange labs soon closed, but
reopened as a museum in 1948. Edison National Historic Site was established
in 1962; in 2009 it became Thomas Edison National Historical Park. The park
is a memorial to the man and a place where you can discover the roots of
American inspiration and innovation.
Edison the inventor was also a shrewd entrepreneur who established dozens
of companies during his career. ”I always invented to obtain money to go on
inventing,” he said. The business side of his operation centered on the phonograph. His factories in West Orange produced a variety of cylinder and disc
phonographs and recordings, plus a business phonograph for office dictation.
He introduced motion pictures, and manufactured cameras, projectors, and
films. In the Black Maria, the world’s first movie studio, his staff filmed every-
Ten times the size of the Menlo Park lab where Edison achieved early fame,
the West Orange complex looked like a small college campus. A three-story
building held a research library, machine shops for building models, space for
experiments and various research projects, and Edison’s office. Across from the
1847
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
Edison Labs
NPS / MELINDA SLOATE SCHMITT
1931
An Inventive Career
1847
”talking machine”—the
phonograph. First recording
is Edison’s recital of ”Mary
had a little lamb.” Hailed as
the ”Wizard of Menlo Park.”
Thomas Alva Edison is born
in Milan, Ohio, February 11.
Educated mostly at home
by his mother.
1879
1854–63
Family moves to Port Huron,
Mich. Thomas works as a
newsboy on Grand Trunk
Railroad. Suffers permanent hearing loss.
Electric pen ad, 1870s.
1870
Invents commercially successful stock ticker. Income
finances workshop in Newark, N.J., where Edison
begins work on automatic
telegraphy.
Using carbon filaments in
a glass-enclosed vacuum,
produces practical incandescent light powered by
electric generator. Demonstrates lighting system New
Year’s Eve at Menlo Park.
Thomas Edison, age 14.
1864–69
Itinerant telegrapher in Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Memphis, and Louisville. Works
for Western Union in Boston.
Invents improved telegraph
equipment.
1869
Awarded his first patent
for legislative vote recorder.
Decides to become full-time
inventor.
1874
Invents quadruplex telegraph device that sends
four messages simultaneously along a single line.
Pursues increased message
capacity.
1875
Invents and markets electric
pen, an early document
duplication system.
Opens new lab complex in
West Orange. Experiments
with ore separation, shifting focus from gold to iron
ore. Spurred by rivals’ invention of graphophone,
resumes work on perfecting his phonograph. Builds
Edison Phonograph Works
Edison’s 1879 lamp sketch (left) near lab complex. Begins
and reproduction lamp.
work on kinetograph, a mocollection of the henry ford
1881
Moves home and office to
New York City. Begins construction of first permanent
central power station on
Pearl Street in Lower Manhattan, which opens in
September 1882.
1871
Marries Mary Stilwell,
one of his employees, on
Christmas Day.
1887–88
First phonograph, 1877.
nps / darryl Herring
1880
Experiments with magnetic
gold ore separation. Observes transfer of electrons
between electrodes within
a glass globe—the ”Edison
Effect”—which eventually
leads to development of
vacuum tubes us