Jump to content
Main menu
Main menu
move to sidebar
hide
Navigation
Main page
Recent changes
Random page
Help about MediaWiki
Special pages
Niidae Wiki
Search
Search
Appearance
Create account
Log in
Personal tools
Create account
Log in
Pages for logged out editors
learn more
Contributions
Talk
Editing
Paterson, New Jersey
(section)
Page
Discussion
English
Read
Edit
View history
Tools
Tools
move to sidebar
hide
Actions
Read
Edit
View history
General
What links here
Related changes
Page information
Appearance
move to sidebar
hide
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
===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>
Summary:
Please note that all contributions to Niidae Wiki may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see
Encyclopedia:Copyrights
for details).
Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Search
Search
Editing
Paterson, New Jersey
(section)
Add topic