We had a nice pair of Pesach Seders here in our driveway. Today we decided to visit all three of New Jersey’s NPS sites. Our first stop was the Washington’s Headquarters unit of Morristown National Historical Park, the first National Historical Park to be created way back in 1933:
Washington wintered in the adjacent Ford Mansion in the winter on 1779-80 while his troops wintered a few miles down the road. We checked out the visitor center:
A Ferguson Rifle, invented by Ferguson who was killed at the Battle of King’s mountain, the site of which we visited on Day 980:
The sword Washington wore at his presidential inauguration:
This room contained a formerly private collection of antique documents:
We walked across the lawn to view the Ford Mansion:
The kids completed their Junior Ranger workbooks and received their badges:
Our next stop was Thomas Edison National Historical Park:
This site preserves Edison’s laboratories, where the motion picture camera was invented among other inventions:
The chemistry lab:
The sound labs, where the phonograph was refined:
The photo lab:
The labs were so extensive that the site had its own volunteer fire department:
In the machine shop, all the tools were belt driven from a single power source:
Edison spent more time tinkering here than he did in his office:
Edison’s office:
His desk was sealed after his death in 1931, so what we see here is exactly how his desk was arranged before his death:
The kids completed their Junior Ranger workbooks and received their badges and patches:
Our last stop of the day was Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park, the 397th NPS site to be created in 2011:
My reaction to the falls was “this is amazing for New Jersey!”:
Lots of Jews here because it’s Chol Hamoed:
The city of Paterson is old and interesting:
This raceway used to carry water to turn waterwheels to power factories, a system promoted by Alexander Hamilton:
The kids completed their Junior Ranger workbooks and received their badges:
See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.