Editing Paterson, New Jersey (section)

==History==
{{Further|History of New Jersey}}

The area of Paterson was inhabited by the [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian-speaking]] [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] [[Acquackanonk tribe]] of the [[Lenape]], also known as the Delaware Indians. The land was known as the [[Lenapehoking]]. The Dutch claimed the land as [[New Netherlands]], followed by the [[British Empire|British]] as the [[Province of New Jersey]].<ref name="Passaic County">Scott, William Winfield. [http://www.lambertcastle.org/foundingpassaic.html "The Founding of Passaic 250 years ago"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512155322/http://www.lambertcastle.org/foundingpassaic.html |date=May 12, 2015 }}, Passaic County Historical Society, September 1, 1929. Accessed January 27, 2015.</ref>

===Establishment===
In 1791, [[Alexander Hamilton]] (1755/57–1804), first [[United States Secretary of the Treasury]],  helped found the [[Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures]] (S.U.M.), which helped encourage the harnessing of energy from the [[Great Falls of the Passaic River]] to secure economic independence from British manufacturers. The society founded Paterson, which became the cradle of the [[Industrial Revolution]] in America.<ref>[http://www.patersongreatfalls.org/significance.html District Significance], Paterson Friends of the Great Falls. Accessed September 4, 2011.</ref> Paterson was named for [[William Paterson (judge)|William Paterson]], statesman, signer of the [[United States Constitution|Constitution]] and [[Governor of New Jersey]], who signed the 1792 charter that established the Town of Paterson.<ref>[http://www.wpunj.edu/university/history/WilliamPaterson_Bio.dot Who Was William Paterson?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708044357/http://www.wpunj.edu/university/history/WilliamPaterson_Bio.dot |date=July 8, 2011 }}, [[William Paterson University]]. Accessed September 4, 2011. "He also supported a proposal by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton and a group of investors to incorporate them as the [[Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures]] (SUM). In 1792 he signed the charter incorporating SUM as well as a municipal charter covering 36 square miles for the Corporation of the Town of Paterson at the site of the Great Falls of the Passaic River."</ref><ref>Hutchinson, Viola L. [http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/356/nj_place_names_origin.pdf#page=25 ''The Origin of New Jersey Place Names''], New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed September 16, 2015.</ref>

[[Architect]], [[engineer]] and [[Urban planner|city planner]] [[Pierre L'Enfant]] (1754–1825), who had earlier developed the initial plans for [[Washington, D.C.]], was the first planner for the S.U.M. project.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jusserand|first=Jean Jules|author-link=Jean Jules Jusserand |chapter=Major L'Enfant and the Federal City |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u2MUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA184 |title=With Americans of Past and Present Days |page=184|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|location=New York|year=1916|isbn=9780722276648}}</ref> His plan proposed to harness the power of the Great Falls through a channel in the rock and an [[Aqueduct (water supply)|aqueduct]]. The society's directors felt he was taking too long and was over budget; he was replaced by Peter Colt, who used a less complicated reservoir system to get the water flowing to factories in 1794. Eventually, Colt's system developed some problems and a scheme resembling L'Enfant's original plan was used after 1846.<ref>[http://www.patersongreatfalls.org/sum.html Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures], Paterson Friends of the Great Falls. Accessed August 15, 2011.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150311194613/http://patersongreatfalls.org/letters/Intro_NJ.pdf Introduction: Project Copy of the Calendar of the S.U.M. Collection of Manuscripts from the New Jersey Historical Records Survey], Paterson Friends of the Great Falls, backed up by the [[Internet Archive]] as of March 11, 2015. Accessed December 9, 2016.</ref>

Paterson was originally formed as a [[township (New Jersey)|township]] from portions of [[Acquackanonk Township, New Jersey|Acquackanonk Township]] on April 11, 1831, while the area was still part of [[Essex County, New Jersey|Essex County]]. It became part of the newly created Passaic County on February 7, 1837, and was incorporated as a city on April 14, 1851, based on the results of a referendum held that day. The city was reincorporated on March 14, 1861.<ref name=Story>Snyder, John P. [https://nj.gov/dep/njgs/enviroed/oldpubs/bulletin67.pdf ''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606–1968''], Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 210. Accessed May 30, 2024.</ref>

===Industrial growth===
The {{convert|77|ft|4=-high|adj=mid}} Great Falls and a system of water raceways that harnessed the falls' power provided power for the mills in the area until 1914 and fostered growth of the city.<ref>Narvaez, Alfonso A. [https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/30/nyregion/historic-power-plant-reborn-at-the-great-falls-in-paterson.html "Historic Power Plant Reborn At The Great Falls In Paterson"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', June 30, 1987. Accessed April 18, 2012.</ref> The district originally included dozens of mill buildings and other manufacturing structures associated with the textile industry and, later, the firearms, silk, and [[railroad locomotive]] manufacturing industries. In the latter half of the 19th century, silk production became the dominant industry and formed the basis of Paterson's most prosperous period, earning it the nickname "Silk City."<ref>[http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/102paterson/102paterson.htm Paterson, New Jersey:America's Silk City], [[National Park Service]]. Accessed April 18, 2012. "These mills manufactured many things during the long history of this industrial city—cotton textiles, steam locomotives, Colt revolvers, and aircraft engines. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they produced silk fabrics in such quantities that Paterson was known as 'Silk City.'"</ref>

In 1835, Samuel Colt began producing firearms in Paterson, but within a few years he moved his business to [[Hartford, Connecticut]]. Later in the 19th century, Paterson was the site of early experiments with submarines by Irish-American inventor [[John Philip Holland]]. Two of Holland's early models—one found at the bottom of the Passaic River—are on display in the [[Paterson Museum]], housed in the former [[Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works]] near the Passaic Falls.<ref>Sachs, Andrea. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/05/AR2010080502984.html "Escapes: Paterson, N.J.'s Great Falls is an urban oasis with depth"], ''[[Washington Post]]'', August 6, 2010. Accessed April 18, 2012. "The museum, for example, owns the first two submersibles built by John Philip Holland, the Father of the Modern Submarine, and 30 of the rare Colt Paterson firearms (1837–42), the third-largest collection in the world."</ref>

Behind Newark and New York, the brewing industry was booming in Paterson in the late 1800s. Braun Brewery, Sprattler & Mennell, Graham Brewery, The Katz Brothers, and Burton Brewery merged in 1890 to form [[Paterson Consolidated Brewing Company]]. [[Hinchliffe Brewing|Hinchliffe Brewing and Malting Company]], founded in 1861, produced 75,000 barrels a year from its state-of-the-art facility at 63 Governor Street. All the breweries closed during [[Prohibition]].<ref>[https://www.patersonnj.gov/egov/apps/document/center.egov?view=item&id=938 Hinchliffe Brewery], City of Paterson. Accessed July 26, 2023. "The brewing industry in Paterson was soon thereafter crippled and dissolved by the Temperance movement and prohibition era of the 1920-30s."</ref>
 
The city was a mecca for immigrant laborers, who worked in its factories, particularly Italian weavers from the Naples region. Paterson was the site of historic labor unrest that focused on the six-month-long [[Paterson silk strike of 1913]] that demanded the [[eight-hour day]] and better working conditions. It was defeated, with workers returning at the end of the strike without having negotiated any changes.<ref>Worth-Baker, Marcia. [https://njmonthly.com/articles/jersey-living/striking-out/ "Striking Out: Paterson’s Famous Labor Dispute"], ''[[New Jersey Monthly]]'', January 17, 2013. Accessed July 26, 2023. "The workers’ key demands: an eight-hour day and improved working conditions, including a return to the two-loom system.... One by one, the silk mills began to spin again without significant concessions from the owners. In the end, Steiger wrote, the strike was 'one of the most bitterly contested and wasteful contests in the history of the industries of this nation.'"</ref>

In 1919, Paterson was one of eight locations bombed by self-identified anarchists.<ref>Salerno, Salvatore. [http://libcom.org/history/patersons-italian-anarchist-silk-workers-politics-race-salvatore-salerno "Paterson's Italian Anarchist Silk Workers and the Politics of Race by Salvatore Salerno"], libcom.org, February 5, 2011. Accessed November 28, 2011.</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="144px">
File:Paterson NJ 1880.jpg|A view of Paterson {{circa| 1880}}
File:Paterson, New Jersey ca. 1911 (cropped).jpg|The central business district of Paterson at the intersection of Market and Main Streets, 1911
</gallery>

===Post–World War II era===
During [[World War II]], Paterson played an important part in the aircraft engine industry. By the end of the war, however, urban areas were in decline; Paterson was no exception. Beginning in the late 1960s, the city suffered high unemployment rates and [[white flight]].<ref>[[James S. Hirsch|Hirsch, James S.]] [https://archive.org/details/hurricanemiracul00hirs/page/8 <!-- quote=paterson "white flight" passaic. --> ''Hurricane: The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter''], p. 8. [[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]], 2000. {{ISBN|0618087281}}. Accessed March 9, 2025. "At the time of Rubin Carter's arrest in 1966, his hometown of Paterson, New Jersey, was dominated by Mayor Frank X. Graves.... Faced with white flight and fears of rising crime rates, he launched a law-and-order crusade with a hard-edged moralism."</ref>

According to the [[New Jersey Historical Commission]], Paterson’s industrialism ended “as the economy and technological needs of the United States changed. By 1983, Paterson was the fifth poorest city in the United States. The town that had called itself Silk City, the Iron City, and the Cotton City, was in economic ruin”.<ref>{{Cite web |title=It Happened Here New Jersey Alexander Hamilton's Dream of Industry |url=https://nj.gov/state/historical/assets/pdf/it-happened-here/ihhnj-er-hamilton.pdf |access-date=November 15, 2022 |website=nj.gov}}</ref> Once millwork and production left the city, Paterson’s poverty became reminiscent of what occurred in the towns surrounding the Appalachian Mountains once the coal mining industry ended. In 2020, 25.2% of Paterson residents lived in poverty.<ref name=Census2020/>

Competition from malls in upscale neighboring towns like [[Wayne, New Jersey|Wayne]] and [[Paramus, New Jersey|Paramus]] forced large chain stores out of Paterson's downtown. With the decline of the city's industrial base, small businesses became the city's most prominent businesses. But the city still attracts many immigrants, who have revived its economy, especially through small businesses.<ref>[http://www.shoppaterson.org/knowpaterson.html Get to Know Paterson] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120701022749/http://www.shoppaterson.org/knowpaterson.html |date=July 1, 2012 }}, Merchants & Businesses of Downtown Paterson. Accessed August 16, 2012. "Today, the city's growth and economy has been boosted by immigrants who still migrate to Paterson for the small business opportunities."</ref>{{better source needed|date=January 2024}}

The downtown area has been struck by massive fires several times, most recently on January 17, 1991. In this fire, almost an entire city block was engulfed in flames due to an electrical fire in the basement of a bar at 161 Main Street.<ref>[http://patersonfirejournal.blogspot.com/2008/06/last-alarm.html Last Alarm], Paterson Fire Journal, June 21, 2008. Accessed August 5, 2014.</ref> Firefighter John A. Nicosia lost his life in the fire.<ref>Via [[Associated Press]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/21/nyregion/firefighter-s-body-is-found.html "Firefighter's Body Is Found"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', January 21, 1991. Accessed August 5, 2014. "Paterson firefighters have found the body of a missing colleague, two days after a fire destroyed much of two city blocks."</ref> A plaque honoring his memory was later placed on a wall near the area. The area was so badly damaged that most of the burned buildings were demolished, with an outdoor mall standing in their place. The most notable of the destroyed buildings was the Meyer Brothers department store, which closed in 1987 and had since been parceled out.<ref>[https://www.patersonfirehistory.com/meyer-brothers-1991.html Meyer Brothers Department Store Fire January 17, 1991], Paterson Fire History. Accessed July 26, 2023.</ref>

Paterson includes numerous locations listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Passaic County, New Jersey|National Register of Historic Places]], including museums, civic buildings such as [[Paterson City Hall|City Hall]], Hinchliffe Stadium, [[Public School Number Two]] and the [[Danforth Memorial Library]], churches ([[Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (Paterson, New Jersey)|Cathedral of St. John the Baptist]] and [[St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church]]), individual residences, such as [[Lambert Castle]], and districts of the city, such as the [[Paterson Downtown Commercial Historic District]], the [[Great Falls (Passaic River)|Great Falls/Society for the Establishment of Useful Manufactures Historic District]] and the [[Eastside Park Historic District]].<ref>[https://www.nj.gov/dep/hpo/1identify/nrsr_lists/PASSAIC.pdf#page=5 New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places], [[New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection]], Historic Preservation Office, updated June 22, 2023. Accessed July 26, 2023.</ref>

In August 2011, Paterson was severely affected in the aftermath of [[Hurricane Irene (2011)|Hurricane Irene]], particularly by flooding of the [[Passaic River]], where waters rose to levels unseen for 100 years, leading to the displacement of thousands and the closure of bridges over the river.<ref>Dolnick, Sam. [https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/01/nyregion/paterson-nj-is-devastated-by-floods-after-hurricane-irene.html "River, at 100-Year High, Ravages a City That Once Thrived on It"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', August 31, 2011. Accessed August 5, 2014. "On Wednesday, this working-class city in North Jersey was fighting back the highest floodwaters in over a century. At least 6,000 people here have been affected, Mayor Jeffery Jones said."</ref> Touring the area with [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]] Administrator [[Craig Fugate]], U.S. Homeland Security Secretary [[Janet Napolitano]] declared, "This is as bad as I've seen, and I've been in eight states that have been impacted by Irene." The same day, President Obama declared New Jersey a [[disaster area]].<ref>Staff. [http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/09/president_obama_declares_nj_a.html "President Obama declares N.J. a disaster area as residents continue to deal with Hurricane Irene's impact"], ''[[The Star-Ledger]]'', September 1, 2011. Accessed August 5, 2014.</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="145px">
File:Paterson, New Jersey - Textiles. Bachelor shacks in outskirts of Paterson, on "Molly Jan Brook." About 20 men live... - NARA - 518622.jpg|A [[Hooverville]] for the unemployed on the outskirts of Paterson, 1937
File:Downtown-paterson-nj2.jpg|Downtown, Paterson, New Jersey
</gallery>