Thomas Edison National Historical Park

Thomas Edison National Historical Park
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
U.S. National Historic Site
U.S. National Historical Park
Thomas Edison's Laboratory
Location	37 Honeysuckle Ave, West Orange, New Jersey 07052
Coordinates
Area	21.25 acres (8.60 ha)
Built	1887
Architect	H. Hudson Holly
Architectural style	Late Victorian, Queen Anne
Visitation	55,284 (2011)
NRHP Reference #	66000052
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 15, 1966
Designated NHS	September 5, 1962
Designated NHP	March 30, 2009

Thomas Edison National Historical Park preserves Thomas Edison's laboratory and residence, Glenmont, in Llewellyn Park in West Orange in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. For more than 40 years, the laboratory had a major impact on the lives of people worldwide. Out of the West Orange laboratories came the motion picture camera, improved phonographs, sound recordings, silent and sound movies and the nickel-iron alkaline electric storage battery.

The history of how the site became a National Historical Park is complicated. Edison's home was designated as the Edison Home National Historic Site on December 6, 1955. The laboratory was designated as Edison Laboratory National Monument on July 14, 1956. On September 5, 1962, the 21-acre (85,000 m²) site containing the home and the laboratory were designated the Edison National Historic Site and overseen by the National Park Service. On March 30, 2009, it was renamed Thomas Edison National Historical Park, adding "Thomas" to the title in hopes to relieve confusion between the Edison sites in West Orange and Edison, New Jersey. Following extensive renovations of the laboratory complex, there was a grand reopening on October 10, 2009.

In popular culture

In 1996, the alternative rock band They Might Be Giants recorded four songs on phonograph cylinder at the museum. One of these recordings, of the song "I Can Hear You", appeared on their album Factory Showroom released later the same year. The other three songs ("Maybe I Know", "The Edison Museum", and a re-recording of the Factory Showroom track "James K. Polk") were released on the band's website in 2002.

A view of the interior of the industrial complex.

Glenmont, Edison's estate.

See also

• Edison's Black Maria
• Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Museum
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Essex County, New Jersey
• Edison Storage Battery Company Building
• List of museums in New Jersey

External links

• Thomas Edison National Historical Park - official site
• Stained glass restoration National Park Service
• Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. NJ-729, "Glenmont, Llewellyn Park, West Orange, Essex County, NJ", 31 photos, 13 measured drawings, 12 data pages
• HABS No. NJ-729-A, "Glenmont, Gardener's Cottage and Greenhouse"
• HABS No. NJ-729-B, "Glenmont, Barn"
• HABS No. NJ-729-C, "Glenmont, Concrete Garage"
• HABS No. NJ-729-D, "Glenmont, Pump House"
• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. NJ-70, "Thomas A. Edison Laboratories"
• HAER No. NJ-70-A, "Thomas A. Edison Laboratories, Building No. 2"
• HAER No. NJ-70-B, "Thomas A. Edison Laboratories, Building No. 3"
• HAER No. NJ-70-C, "Thomas A. Edison Laboratories, Building No. 5"
• The Invention Factory: Thomas Edison's Laboratories, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan