Monday, 31 August 2015

Day 142: Great Falls, Paterson, NJ

"The point is that when I see a sunset or a waterfall or something, for a split second it's so great, because for a little bit I'm out of my brain, and it's got nothing to do with me. I'm not trying to figure it out, you know what I mean? And I wonder if I can somehow find a way to maintain that mind stillness" - Chris Evans



Project 365: #142

We decided that as it is the last Sunday of the school holiday, we should venture on an outing. There is so much to see and do here, that it is difficult to decide which to do first. Mike has done lots of research about what is in the area, so we ventured to the Great Falls in Paterson. It is about a 30 minute drive from home, so not very far away. Paterson was one of the towns that developed through planned industrialization from 1791 by Hamilton and the Society for Establishing Useful Manufacturers (S.U.M.), centered around the Great Falls on the Passaic River. A hydroelectric power station was built, and cotton and silk mills were developed; the steel,  locomotive, and airplane industries grew; and paper mills and many more were also developed. These falls are in the centre of town, and many of the old mills are now derelect and abandoned. However, there is an upliftment project of the National Parks to develop the area, which will be great to clean up the polluted river, that was filled with algae and litter.  The locals were complaining as the falls were not much to look at at the moment, as the river level is low. They were still beautiful though, and amazing to think of how the water power has been harnessed for industry for so long. We will have return during high levels so see what they are talking about!







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