Patterson, New Jersey
Paterson Great Falls is one of the most beautiful waterfalls I have ever seen. The waterfall is 77 feet tall and 260 feet wide; it is located on the Passaic River. Paterson Falls is the 2nd largest waterfall east of the Mississippi River. There is a lot of history and geology about the falls.
The falls are made up of basalt rock and other minerals.. When you look at the falls you can see the different brown tones in the rock. The weathering that is occurring is causing the different tones you see in the rocks. The falls were created when the earth was one supercontinent called the Pangea.. When the Pangea began to split the land began to sink. The lava flow came up from faults and flowed around 50 miles and hardened into a rock called basalt. This was one of the processes that formed the North American plate. .
The picture above shows the beautiful tones of brown.
Around 13,000 thousand years ago at the end of the ice age, glaciers helped form the falls and the path that the river runs. This is just a little geology about the falls .
Now I would like to tell a little history about the falls that I found very interesting. Before settlers moved to Paterson Falls the Lenape Tribe used the land for fishing and camping. In 1758, The Treaty of Easton was signed that required the Lenape Tribe to move westward and out of New Jersey, and many other of the surrounding states.
When I arrived at the falls the first thing I noticed was a statue of Alexander Hamilton so I started to do a little reading and found he and some investors founded The Society for Establishing Useful Manufacturing. The SUM wanted to industrialize Paterson and harness power of the water. Alexander Hamilton wanted to start producing more in the United States and quit relying on foreign manufacturing. Paterson was the birthplace for the American Industrial Revolution.
If you look at the falls and the river you can see how fast the water runs. There were companies located along the river and they used water wheels to run their manufacturing plants. Property was bought along the river to run the mills from silk, gun makers, cotton, and other various mills. The water was used as a power source to run the manufacturing plants.
Hydroelectric Plant 1914
The Hydroelectric Plant was built to supply power to the City of Paterson and to replace the waterwheels. In the summer months, during drought season, sometimes the plant has to shut down due to water being so low. The plant is still in operation to this day. I noticed a man working there when I was visiting.
There was one thing I found very disappointing. When I was on the bridge above the falls, I saw the trash in the river. This was disappointing seeing all the garbage floating on top of the water.
One of the things that was an interest to me was Samual Colt had a manufacturing company below the falls and unfortunately the company failed. The company opened in 1836 and closed in 1842. People were not as interested in the products as in Europe. The company produced single-barrel pistols, shotguns, and rifles, but people in the United States were not interested. Though his company failed in Paterson, Samual Colt did invent and create the revolver.
The falls is a great place to sit, relax, and have lunch as George Washington, Marquis De Lafayette, and Alexander Hamilton did in 1778.
Paterson Falls is a great place to visit. Good for families, educational with lots of history, geology, and a good place for artists, great place to take a date and have lunch, and just overall beautiful and you can get some really great photos here.
Note: Bridge above the falls is currently closed and not sure when or if it will reopen.
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