I visited the Great Falls ,it s actually very easy to get to , just head down Route 4 west till it turns into Broadway ,just keep going til you cant go any farther ,then make a right and you are there.
Lets retrace the steps Alexander Hamilton took in 1778, when he visited the breathtaking falls and was impressed by its huge potential for industry. As Secretary of Treasury, he selected the site of the nation's first planned industrial city, which he called a "national manufactory." In 1791, Hamilton helped found the Society for the Establishment of Useful Manufactures (S.U.M.), state-chartered private corporation to fulfill this vision. The town of Paterson was founded by the society and named after New Jersey Governor William Paterson in appreciation of his efforts to promote the society.
The falls became the nucleus for a burgeoning mill industry ie.. silk city, with construction of numerous canals known as raceways. In 1793, the falls was the site of the first water-powered cotton spinning mill in New Jersey. In 1812, it was the site of the state's first continuous roll paper mill. Other products whose construction used the falls as a power source include the Rogers Locomotive Works (1832), the gun that won the west the Colt revolver (1837),and the USS Holland (SS-1) (1898).
After the years of declin the area fell into disuse .In 1971, the Great Falls Preservation and Development Corporation were established to restore and redevelop the historic mill buildings and raceways.On June 6, 1976, President Ford designated the Falls and its surrounding area as a National Natural Landmark.
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