It was the boldest private enterprise ever conceived in the early days of the United States. They hired Pierre Charles L'Enfant to design the largest, most significant power system at that time, one that diverted water from the Passaic River above the falls to mills along its route. In 1791, Alexander Hamilton and a group of investors created the S.U.M., the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures, to harness the tremendous power of the Passaic Great Falls. It has been described as America's very first systematic attempt to develop extensive waterpower for manufacturing purposes. The 77-foot tall falls, engineered raceways and mills form a complex that is unique and irreplaceable to our nation. At the district's core is the natural landmark Great Falls, the second largest waterfall by volume east of the Mississippi. It contains 18th, 19th, and 20th-century waterpower remnants, including a three-tiered water raceway system. Located just 12 miles west of New York City, it is home to the largest and best example of early manufacturing mills in the United States. National Historic Landmark district is a 118-acre industrial historic site located in Paterson, New Jersey. Area around the Paterson Great Falls is designated to be a National Park! As such, Congress and President have seen the need to preserve and protect the Great Falls National Historic District and properly present it to the by brining a National Park Service unit to Paterson.The ATP Site, Paterson, New Jersey at low water, 1903. The story of Hamilton and American industry is not just a story of the State of New Jersey it is the story of our nation.

Scholars have concluded that Pierre L'Enfant's innovative water power system in Paterson, and many factories built later, constitute the finest remaining collection of engineering and architectural structures representing each stage of America's progress from a weak agrarian society to a leader in the global economy. Ford said, 'We can see the Great Falls as a symbol of the industrial might which helps to make America the most powerful nation in the world.' In a special Bicentennial speech in Paterson with the spectacular natural beauty of the Great Falls in the background, the late President Gerald R. New Jersey's Great Falls is the only National Historic District that includes both a National Natural Resource and a National Historic Landmark. True to Hamilton's vision, Paterson became a great manufacturing city, producing the Colt revolver, the first submarine, the aircraft engine for the first trans-Atlantic flight, more locomotives than any city in the nation, and more silk than any city in the world. At the Great Falls, Alexander Hamilton conceived and implemented a plan to harness the force of water to power the new industries that would secure our economic independence.Īlexander Hamilton told Congress and the American people that at the Great Falls he would begin implementation of his ambitious strategy to transform a rural agrarian society dependent upon slavery into a modern economy based on freedom. No other natural wonder in America has played such an important role in our nation's historic quest for freedom and prosperity. The passage of this legislation is the realization of a dream that Bill has had since first becoming a Member of Congress in 1997.įifteen miles west of New York City, the Great Falls was the second largest waterfall in colonial America. Upon the completion of land use agreements between the State, City and Federal Government, the Great Falls officially became a part of the United States' National Park System. The language from the bill was incorporated into the larger Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, HR 146, which was signed into law by President Obama in March of 2009. This bipartisan legislation was cosponsored by every Member of the New Jersey Congressional delegation and designates a National Historical Park at the Great Falls in Paterson, New Jersey.

On the first day of the 111th Congress, Congressman Bill Pascrell introduced the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park Act of 2009, HR 280.

Paterson waterfall hours