Discover How Edison Changed The World at
Thomas Edison National Historical Park!
Thomas Edison was one of the most famous Americans to ever call New Jersey his home. The inventor began his career in Newark and Menlo Park, and later moved his home and laboratory to West Orange NJ. Today, Thomas Edison National Historical Park preserves the place where America’s greatest inventor changed our world forever so that visitors can get a glimpse into the mind of Edison, his many inventions (he earned 1093 U.S. patents in his lifetime), and where he worked and made his home.
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Visits to Thomas Edison National Historical Park begin at the Visitors Center, where you can watch an orientation movie and Edison’s historic black and white movie, “The Great Train Robbery”. While you’re at the Visitors Center, get a daily schedule park activities including ranger-led tour times and pick up tickets to tour Glenmont, Thomas Edison’s beautiful 29-room mansion and estate. Daily tickets for Glenmont go quickly, so be sure to arrive early in order to snag these! (Note: Glenmont is currently undergoing a restoration project, so visitation will be somewhat limited through Spring and Summer of 2018).
After your orientation at the Visitors Center, explore Edison’s Laboratory Complex. Here, Thomas Edison and his employees (at one time 10,000 workers were employed at the complex) developed inventions that would change the world.
See the Black Maria, the world’s first motion picture studio…
Tour the main lab building, where you can see the machine shop, the music recording studio, the music room which holds a collection of phonographs (including the first one, on which Edison recorded Mary Had A Little Lamb), Edison’s office and library, and more.
From there, you can tour the chemistry lab where Edison’s workers tested hundreds of chemicals for use in such inventions such as the batteries and the phonograph record. Be sure to stop at the metallurgy lab and pattern shop as well!
Thomas Edison National Historical Park frequently hosts special events and activities, including the very popular “Holidays At Glenmont”, an extremely popular event during which Edison’s mansion is decorated much as it was during the time the Edison family lived there. Young visitors to Thomas Edison National Historical Park can earn a Junior Ranger badge by completing an activity book during their visit to the park. Pick up your Junior Ranger activity book at the Visitors Center and return the completed book to take your Junior Ranger pledge and receive your badge.
Thomas Edison National Historical Park is located at 211 Main Street in West Orange NJ. Parking is located across from the laboratory complex. Admission to the park is $10 for anyone 16 and older. The tour of Glenmont is free, but tickets are required. Learn more about Thomas Edison National Historical Park HERE.
Featured Photo: Shinya Suzuki
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