Stirred by the spirit and vision of Hamilton, my administration earmarked about $38 million in state tax credits for a three-piece project that would include a world-class visitor center named after Paterson’s founding father, a 24,000-square-foot Youth Performing Arts Center and a 270-car parking garage in the area surrounding the Great Falls.Īdditionally, construction has commenced on a river walk along the Great Falls that will enhance the scenic experience for visitors. Thus, I believe that Paterson’s long-awaited renaissance rests with our city's returning to our roots. secretary of the Treasury and founded the city of Paterson as the birthplace of America’s industrial revolution and economic independence, fueled by the rushing water of the Passaic River. True to his word, Hamilton came back years later as the first U.S. While feasting on cow tongue and cold ham and dousing it down with diluted beer, called grog, Hamilton was enthralled by the falls and envisioned creating a city completely based on being an industrial hub, vowing to return to bring that concept to manifestation. George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette at the Great Falls during the Revolutionary War. Historians note that on July 10, 1778, Alexander Hamilton was having lunch with Gen. It possesses the potential to be a top-notch tourist attraction. It is the second-largest waterfall east of the Mississippi and is one of America’s newest national parks. The Great Falls is where our city was born and where we believe our city will be reborn. As such, Congress and President have seen the need to preserve and protect the Great Falls National Historic District and properly present it to the by brining a National Park Service unit to Paterson.Watch Video: Great Falls roars after days of heavy rain The story of Hamilton and American industry is not just a story of the State of New Jersey it is the story of our nation. Scholars have concluded that Pierre L'Enfant's innovative water power system in Paterson, and many factories built later, constitute the finest remaining collection of engineering and architectural structures representing each stage of America's progress from a weak agrarian society to a leader in the global economy. Ford said, "We can see the Great Falls as a symbol of the industrial might which helps to make America the most powerful nation in the world." In a special Bicentennial speech in Paterson with the spectacular natural beauty of the Great Falls in the background, the late President Gerald R. New Jersey's Great Falls is the only National Historic District that includes both a National Natural Resource and a National Historic Landmark. True to Hamilton's vision, Paterson became a great manufacturing city, producing the Colt revolver, the first submarine, the aircraft engine for the first trans-Atlantic flight, more locomotives than any city in the nation, and more silk than any city in the world. At the Great Falls, Alexander Hamilton conceived and implemented a plan to harness the force of water to power the new industries that would secure our economic independence.Īlexander Hamilton told Congress and the American people that at the Great Falls he would begin implementation of his ambitious strategy to transform a rural agrarian society dependent upon slavery into a modern economy based on freedom. No other natural wonder in America has played such an important role in our nation's historic quest for freedom and prosperity. The passage of this legislation is the realization of a dream that Bill has had since first becoming a Member of Congress in 1997.įifteen miles west of New York City, the Great Falls was the second largest waterfall in colonial America. Upon the completion of land use agreements between the State, City and Federal Government, the Great Falls officially became a part of the United States' National Park System. The language from the bill was incorporated into the larger Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, HR 146, which was signed into law by President Obama in March of 2009. This bipartisan legislation was cosponsored by every Member of the New Jersey Congressional delegation and designates a National Historical Park at the Great Falls in Paterson, New Jersey. On the first day of the 111th Congress, Congressman Bill Pascrell introduced the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park Act of 2009, HR 280.
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