Thomas Edison National Historical Park

Thomas Edison National Historical Park
Thomas Edison's Laboratory
Location 37 Honeysuckle Ave, West Orange, New Jersey 07052
Coordinates 40°47′09.46″N 74°14′24.42″W / 40.7859611°N 74.2401167°W / 40.7859611; -74.2401167Coordinates: 40°47′09.46″N 74°14′24.42″W / 40.7859611°N 74.2401167°W / 40.7859611; -74.2401167
Area 21.25 acres (8.60 ha)[1]
Built 1887
Architect H. Hudson Holly
Architectural style Late Victorian, Queen Anne
Visitation 55,284 (2011)
NRHP Reference # 66000052[2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP October 15, 1966
Designated NHS September 5, 1962
Designated NHP March 30, 2009

Thomas Edison National Historical Park preserves Thomas Edison's laboratory and residence, Glenmont, in Llewellyn Park in West Orange in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. For more than 40 years, the laboratory had a major impact on the lives of people worldwide. 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.

The history of how the site became a National Historical Park is complicated. 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 21-acre (85,000 m2) site containing the home and the laboratory were designated the Edison National Historic Site and overseen by the National Park Service.[1] 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.[3] 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 at the museum. One of these recordings, of the song "I Can Hear You", appeared on their album Factory Showroom 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.

A view of the interior of the industrial complex.
Glenmont, Edison's estate.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Edison Park Management". National Park Service. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
  2. ↑ Staff (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  3. ↑ "ACT COMMEMORATING THE LITE, OR LIFETIME INNOVATIONS OF THOMAS EDISON". Congressional Record. February 28, 2006. Retrieved 2009-08-16.

External links

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