Edison
National Historic Site
Edison
National Historic Site
Edison National Historic Site consists of Thomas Alva Edison's research and development laboratory and his home, Glenmont.
For more than forty years, the laboratory created by Thomas Alva Edison in West Orange, New Jersey, had enormous impact on the lives of millions of people worldwide.
Out of the West Orange laboratories came the motion picture camera, vastly improved phonographs, sound recordings, silent and sound movies and the nickel-iron alkaline electric storage battery.
The laboratory, which remained in operation even after Edison's death in 1931, was the forerunner of the modern research and development complex. At West Orange, Edison and his colleagues connected the inventive process with the organization of manufacturing that produced products for distribution to an international mass market.
The Laboratory Unit, which was dedicated to the "business of inventing," contains fourteen structures, six of which Edison had built in 1887 to serve as his laboratory. Also a part of the site is the "Black Maria," a replica of the world's first structure designed as a motion picture studio.
Today, the Laboratory remains a powerful symbol of American technical ingenuity
and productive power.
In contrast, the Edison home, Glenmont, offers insight into the private Edison. It reminds us of the stark separation between work and domestic life in turn-of-the-century America.
Glenmont is found on a 15.67 acre estate in Llewellyn Park, one of the first private residential communities in the United States. Built in 1880, the twenty-nine room brick-and-timber mansion contains the original furnishings and family items used by Thomas and Mina Edison, their family and their servants. The estate grounds include gardens, the family greenhouse and barn, and the poured cement garage containing the family's automobiles. The graves of Thomas and Mina Edison are on the grounds of the estate.
The museum collection and archives, by far the largest single body of Edison-related material anywhere, are the product of Thomas Alva Edison's sixty year career as inventor, manufacturer, businessman and private citizen.
Most of the collections are the original contents of the Laboratory and Glenmont. Thomas A. Edison, Inc., (later McGraw-Edison), and the Edison family donated them to the National Park Service during the late 1950s and early 1960s.
The sheer size of the collection is daunting. The Site estimates that the artifact collection numbers 400,000 items, while the archives contain approximately five million documents.
Much of the collection is unique and irreplaceable. It includes the laboratory notebooks, sketches and working drawings made by Edison and his colleagues, specialized testing equipment and materials, master and unreleased sound recordings, and the prototypes and working models for important inventions, including the first phonograph, improved telegraph equipment and early motion picture apparatus.
Edison National Historic Site provides a unique opportunity to interpret and experience important aspects of America's industrial, social and economic past, and to learn from the legacy of the world's best known inventor.
The visitation to the Edison Site remains constant throughout the year, with peaks on holiday weekends.
Edison National Historic Site is in West Orange, New Jersey, which is about 15 miles west of New York City, New York.
(973) 736-0550, (973) 736-8496 (FAX), (973) 243-9122 (TDD)
Superintendent, Edison National Historic Site. (EDIS_Superintendent@nps.gov). For research questions, Archivist, Edison National Historic Site (EDIS_Archives@nps.gov).
Summers are generally hot and humid. The historic buildings are not air conditioned, and can get extremely hot. Winters are generally cold with variable precipitation. The site recommends layers of clothing, especially in early spring and late fall. Part of the tour is outdoors. Come prepared for inclement weather.
Edison National Historic Site Laboratory is on the corner of Main Street and Lakeside Avenue in West Orange, New Jersey. The visitor center entrance is on Lakeside Avenue, while the visitor parking lot is on Main Street, across from the Laboratory.
Approaching from the east: from the Garden State Parkway, take exit 145 onto Interstate 280 westbound. From the New Jersey Turnpike, take exit 15-W onto Interstate 280 westbound. Follow Interstate 280 westbound to exit 10. Make the first right from the exit ramp. Go to the end of the street, and make a left onto Main Street. Follow Main Street for about three-fourths of a mile. Parking is on the left.
Approaching from the west: take Interstate 280 eastbound to exit 9. Make a left at the end of the ramp. At the second traffic light, make a left onto Main Street. Follow Main Street for one-half mile. Parking is on the left.
Free parking is available at both the Laboratory and Glenmont. Visitors may obtain information on getting to the Site by public transportation from New Jersey Transit at (800) 772-2222.
Adults, (17 years or older), $2.00 per person. Children, (younger than 17), free. Holders of Golden Eagle, Age or Access Passports, free.
The visitor center, once the power house for the Edison Laboratory, now houses a bookstore, exhibits about Edison's inventions, and a video theater. One laboratory structure contains visitor rest room facilities. No visitor rest room facilities exist at the Glenmont home.
Park rangers give guided tour programs of both the Laboratory and Glenmont. The Laboratory complex is open daily, while the Glenmont home is open Wednesday through Sunday, year-round. A tour of the Laboratory takes 45 minutes, and includes visits to the historically furnished research library (also Edison's office and trophy room), the stock room, heavy machine shop and chemistry laboratory. Tours also include, in good weather, a visit to the replica of the "Black Maria," the first structure designed as a motion picture studio. Please note that the site does not permit baby strollers or video cameras on tours.
A tour of Glenmont takes 30 minutes, and includes the Edison home and furnishings, which have changed little since the Edison family lived there. The Glenmont tour offers an intimate glimpse of the lives and times of the Edisons and their servants. The Glenmont grounds include the greenhouse and potting shed, barn, and a cast concrete garage built using an Edison-invented construction technique.
Visitors using wheelchairs should ask at the Edison National Historic Site Visitor Center, (973) 736-0550, extension 42, for special arrangements to enter the Laboratory complex. The Glenmont home is currently not accessible by wheelchair.
For the hearing impaired, the TDD line is (973) 243-9122.
The site requires reservations for groups. Organized groups may make reservations through the site by calling (973) 736-0550, extension 18. School groups may sign up for special educational programs by calling (973) 736-0550, extension 17. Space is limited. Researchers wishing to use the Edison archives should call (973) 736-0550, extension 37, to arrange an appointment with the archivist. Anyone wishing to do motion picture filming, or make other special use of the site, should call (973) 736-0550, extension 39, to discuss film or special use permits.
Allow three hours to tour the Laboratory Complex, Glenmont and the visitor center. Glenmont is one-half mile from the Laboratory Complex, in the private residential community of Llewellyn Park. Allow 15 minutes travel time. Latecomers cannot be added once a tour has started.
The site offers special event programs throughout the year. Please call for current information.
This park is featured in a lesson plan created by Teaching with
Historic Places, a program of the National Park Service that
helps teachers and students understand how parks and other
historic places embody America's historical experiences and
cultural expressions.
Park rangers will announce information on site closings, due to adverse weather or emergency conditions, on the voice mail menu system at (973) 736-0550.
The Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island, and Morristown National Historical Park are both within twenty miles of the site.
Please write, Edison National Historic Site, Main Street and Lakeside Avenue, West Orange, NJ 07052, or telephone, (973) 736-0550, or E-mail Superintendent, Edison National Historic Site (EDIS_Superintendent@nps.gov). For research questions telephone or e-mail Archivist, Edison National Historic Site. (EDIS_Archives@nps.gov).