Northern New Jersey was the site of some of the earliest European settlements in what would become the United States of America. During the American Revolutionary War, New Jersey was a strategic location between the capitol of the fledgling United States, New York City, and the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Important materials necessary to the war effort were produced in Northern New Jersey.

The Continental Army made its home here during the war and history from this period can be found in nearly every village and town in northern New Jersey. Battle fields,camps, skirmish sites and headquarters can be found near Morristown and north in the Preakness Valley. In the northwestern part of the state, iron mines and foundries supplied raw material for guns and ammunition.

The people of New Jersey had a great influence on the formation of the United States government. William Paterson, before being governor of New Jersey, was a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention of 1787. At this convention, the Constitution of the United States was written by the "peoples representitives using reason and experience to decide how to govern themselves"*. William Paterson put forth the New Jersey Plan which promoted states rights. In William Paterson's plan, each state would receive one vote in a single legislative body. This plan was eventually combined with the Virginia Plan, where votes were assigned porportionally by population, to form the present bicameral system of the Senate (two votes per state) and House of Representitives (apportioned by population of a state).

Chemistry Lab at Edison's "Invention Factory" in West Orange, New Jersey around 1910

The Industrial Revolution in America started by the founding of the northern New Jersey town of Paterson. Today, the United States and the world enjoy the fruit born of seeds planted in northern New Jersey during the Industrial Revolution. Alexander Hamilton, Secretary for the Treasury and President of the Bank of New York during the end of the eighteenth century, selected the Great Falls area (also known as the Passaic Falls) for an ambitious experiment. He promoted the natural power of the Great Falls as an excellent location for textile mills and other manufacture.

Paterson, New Jersey attracted skilled craftsmen and engineers from Europe to run the mills and produced a large concentration of creative and able people. During the mid nineteenth century the engines and material to tame a continent were made here. Thomas Edison installed one of the first hydro electric powerplants in the world using the Great Falls as an energy source. This powerplant still provides electricity today.

Lou Costello Memorial in Paterson, New Jersey

In West Orange, Edison created the first technical research and development facility with his "invention factory". The electric light, improved motion pictures and sound recording were among the hundreds of inventions produced here.

Later, Bell Telephone established a research facility, Bell Labs, where the radio telescope and the transistor were discovered.