Editing Pearl River, New York (section)

== History ==
[[File:Aero-view of Pearl River, New York, 1924. LOC 75694831.jpg|thumb|[[Panoramic map]] of Pearl River from 1924 with list of landmarks and images of several inset]]

In 1696, Pearl River was part of a larger piece of land known as the Kakiat Patent that was granted to Daniel Honan and Michael Hawdon. In 1713, the land was split into north and south plots. After the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]], the land was further divided and sold.<ref name="orangetownmuseum.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.orangetownmuseum.com/towns/Pearl_River.htm |title=Orangetown Historical Museum & Archives |website=www.orangetownmuseum.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130228231028/http://orangetownmuseum.com/towns/Pearl_River.htm |archive-date=2013-02-28}}</ref> Pearl River was a piece of land made up of woods and swamps originally called Muddy Creek.<ref name="Curry">{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/15/realestate/if-you-re-thinking-of-living-in-pearl-river.html|work=The New York Times|first=Jack|last=Curry|title=IF YOU'RE THINKING OF LIVING IN: Pearl River|date=May 15, 1988}}</ref>

In the early 1870s, the town was divided into five different parts: Middletown, Sickletown, Pascack, Muddy Brook, and Naurashaun.<ref>Green, Frank Bertangue. MD, The History of Rockland County</ref>

There are conflicting accounts on how Muddy Creek came to be named Pearl River. According to some historians, a town resident named Ves Bogert found small pearls in mussels that thrived in Muddy Brook and, upon hearing this, the wife of John Demarest, the president of the [[New Jersey and New York Railroad]], suggested the name "Pearl River" to him.

Another account is that the name change was made to make the station sound more appealing on railroad schedules. A third account is that Julius E. Braunsdorf wanted to enhance the hamlet's business image by renaming it Pearl River.<ref name="orangetownmuseum.com"/> In any event, there is no body of water near the hamlet called Pearl River; the most significant stream is Muddy Brook.

Braunsdorf, an industrialist and German immigrant, purchased Muddy Creek in 1870. He donated a long strip of land through the center of his property to the New Jersey and New York Railroad to enable it to bring an extension of the line from [[Hillsdale, New Jersey]] north to [[Nanuet, New York|Nanuet]].

Braunsdorf was the "Father of Pearl River" and established Aetna Sewing Machine Company to produce his patented home sewing machine in 1872. Later that year the first post office was established in the hamlet and from then on it was known as Pearl River.<ref name="Curry"/>

Braunsdorf invented and manufactured the [[Arc lamp|carbon-arc]] light bulb in 1873, six years before [[Thomas Edison]]'s carbonized filament version. It was installed and used on ships in New York harbor for loading and unloading operations. He also designed generators, one of which powered the first [[Incandescent light bulb|incandescent]] electric lights, which he also invented,<ref name="ReferenceA">Peckman, Herbert Pearl River Then and Now. Brief Narrative of one man's love for a community, 125 Anniversary</ref> in the nation's capital.<ref name="orangetownmuseum.com"/>

When Braunsdorf designed the street layout, the only existing streets were Pearl Street and Washington Avenue. He drew a wide main street through the middle of town and called it Central Avenue. Parallel to Central Avenue he drew Franklin, after his hero, [[Benjamin Franklin]]. To connect Washington, Central, and Franklin he drew three streets and named them William, John and Henry, after his sons.

Braunsdorf built:
* 1872 – The Aetna Sewing Machine Company, the largest factory in Pearl River, and ceded land to the railroad company so workers from New York City could get to his factory.
* 1872 – The Pearl River Post Office and became the first [[Postmaster]].
* 1873 – Two brick train stations (passenger/freight) still in use today.
* The Pearl River Hotel
* Low-cost housing for the factory employees he attracted from Germany and Scandinavia.

In 1894, [[Talbot C. Dexter]] moved his Dexter Folder Company to Pearl River. On August 25, 1885, Dexter filed a patent for an automatic folding machine that changed the way newspapers, books, and magazines were folded and assembled. Between 1885 and 1913, Dexter filed many patents, some still in use today.<ref name="orangetownmuseum.com"/>

In 1907, [[Ernst J. Lederle]], former [[Commissioner of Health of the City of New York|New York City Health Commissioner]], established the Lederle Antitoxin Laboratories in Pearl River. In 1930, it became Lederle Laboratories, a division of [[American Cyanamid]]. During World War II, Lederle was a major supplier of vaccines and blood plasma to the U.S. armed forces.<ref name=Lederle>{{cite news |first=Robert |last=Brum |url=https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/rockland/orangetown/2015/11/23/pfizer-campus-memories/76128496/ |title=Pfizer campus' future sparks memories of past |newspaper=The Journal News |date=December 1, 2015 |orig-year=November 23, 2015 |access-date=July 23, 2022 }}</ref>

In 1931, Gottfried (Fred) Schmidt invented the automatic [[pinsetter]]. Brunswick was not interested in an automatic machine at the time. In 1937, [[American Machine and Foundry|AMF]] acquired the patent rights to this early machine—The “Sch-Bec-Roy”, which stood for Schmidt (inventor), Beckerle (bowling alley proprietor) and McElroy (blueprint designer).<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://oldbowling.com/page2.html|title = Old Bowling - Development of the Automatic Pinsetter}}</ref>

In 1955, Pearl River was the setting for ''[[Norby (TV series)|Norby]]'', an [[NBC]] [[situation comedy]] that aired from January to April of that year and was one of the first regular television series filmed in color.<ref name=ctva>[http://ctva.biz/US/Comedy/Norby.htm Classic TV Archive ''Norby'']</ref><ref name=complete>[https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC&dq=%22Maude+Endles%22&pg=PA996 Brooks, Tim, and Earl Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–Present, Ninth Edition''], New York: Ballantine Books, 2007, {{ISBN|978-0-345-49773-4}}, p. 996.</ref> It starred [[David Wayne]] as a small-town banker who lived and worked in Pearl River, where the 13 episodes of the series were filmed.<ref name=ctva/><ref name=complete/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/norby/cast/203475 |title=Norby Cast and Details|work=TV Guide |access-date=2013-02-16}}</ref>

In 2011, [[CNNMoney.com]] ranked Pearl River 78th on its annual "100 Best Places to Live" list.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2011/snapshots/PL3656902.html|work=CNN|title=Money: Best Places to Live 2011}}</ref>
[[File:Pearl River Station.jpg|thumb|[[Pearl River (Metro-North station)|Pearl River Metro-North station]]]]