We were recently in New Jersey for a scuba diving conference and decided to visit the Thomas Edison National Historic Park.
Maintained by the National Parks, the Laboratory Complex opened in October of 2009. The brick buildings in West Orange, NJ, are just remarkable. It honestly looks like all the workers and inventors left for the weekend putting down their tools expecting to return Monday morning.
We spoke to one of the rangers at length about the remarkably authentic looking layout and he said that the labs had been left pretty much untouched as Edison worked right up until his death in 1931. His son recognized the importance of his father’s legacy and turned it over to the American people in the hands of the National Park Service.
The ranger confided that some more recently banned substances had been removed from the chemistry lab but other than that most of the laboratories were exactly as they had been when Thomas Edison worked there.
Edison’s inventions
It’s quite impressive all the things that Edison worked on. With over a thousand patents, the inventions span across many domains. Most will recognize the incandescent light bulb, the early phonographs and cameras, but there is a wide variety of inventions that we had no idea he had worked on. We laughed at the shock treatment device which was meant as ‘fun for the whole family’!
Visiting Edison’s Laboratory Complex
Start your visit at the Laboratory Complex Visitor Center where you can watch movies about Edison and his inventions. Don’t forget to check out the Black Maria filming studio across the courtyard. It rotated on a track to capture sunlight when making short movies for Edison’s Kinetoscope motion picture viewers. We loved the film with the boxing cats!
Edison spent most of his time in the laboratories, but he sometimes indulged in quick naps in the library. This area also served as his personal office.
The museum houses approximately 400,000 artifacts including prototypes, products, laboratory equipment and some of Edison’s personal possessions.
When we visited some buildings were closed but we got to visit the impressive Main Laboratory and Chemistry Laboratory. The latter can only be visited if a park ranger is present.
Edison Home
Up the street in a quiet gated community, you can also visit the Edison Home. However, it was closed when we were there, but we appreciated walking around the grounds and admiring its exterior. The 29-room red brick home was built in 1880 by the architect Henry Hudson who also designed the other buildings of Edison’s Lab Complex in New Jersey.
Conclusion
We were impressed with the Thomas Edison Nation Historical Park and are very happy that we got to see this wonderful museum. A few years ago, we had visited the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, Florida, and truly enjoyed our visit there as well.
A visit to the Edison Home and Laboratory Complex could easily be combined with a visit to some of the other mansions in the New York City area.
Good to know:
- Thomas Edison National Historical Park is open seasonally (closed January to mid-March): Thursday to Sunday, from 10:00am to 4pm
- A standard entrance pass is $15, an annual pass is $45. But if you have an America the Beautiful National Parks Pass you can access the park for free. Parking is free and located just across the street.
- All visits must start at the Laboratory Complex Visiting Center. And this is where you can also pick up a pass to access the road to the Edison Home.