History of the Paterson MuseumThe Paterson Museum dates back to 1925, as the City of Paterson Library’s Board of Trustees sought a way to collect and preserve Paterson industrial history. Through donations of natural history items from local residents, the museum began operating in the assembly room of the Danforth Public Library. The museum moved to the carriage house of former Paterson mayor and philanthropist Nathan Barnert in 1927, and since then, Paterson Museum continued gathering thousands of artifacts and other items. Due to this growth, the museum needed more space to accommodate its newfound variety of exhibits. That answer came with the completed restorations of the Thomas Rogers Locomotive Erecting Shop in 1982, and the museum moved to its current locale near the famous Great Falls of Passaic.1Exhibits and Museum FeaturesEvery year, thousands of visitors to the City of Paterson stop by the museum for its renowned diversity of educational exhibits. In addition to the beautiful backdrop of the Great Falls of Passaic, the museum also boasts its local archaeology, history, and mineralogy collections. Visitors to the museum can traverse natural history and the ancient history of the Native Americans who lived in the region, while in a different gallery, they can discover the evolution of the silk and textile industry in Paterson. Other exhibits display Paterson’s relationship to locomotive manufacturing, Colt arms, and the Holland submarines.2

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The Story of Paterson: A Coloring Book Presented By the Paterson Museum

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Known as the focal point of the Old Great Falls Historic District and housed in the former Thomas Rogers Building, site of a former locomotive factory, the Paterson Museum tells the industrial history of the city of Paterson. Exhibits and the museum's collection showcase everything from the original Lenni Lenape inhabitants to the first elements that would define Paterson as a American industrial city. 

Some of the exhibits display the John P. Hollands submarine, various industrial machinery used during the silk boom, Native American artifacts, old locomotives, a range of old guns, and much more. Additionally, the Paterson Museum has a large collection of 1900s-era medicine and medicinal instruments. Rotating exhibits often feature art.

The Paterson Museum

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This tour includes several museums and historic buildings as it makes its way through the downtown area. New stops will be added to the tour as local historians create additional entries. Be sure to also view some nearby Patterson entries such as the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, which was constructed in 1870, and sites related to the history of the African American community and Underground Railroad. 

Great Falls National Historic Park is a 118 acre historic site located 12 miles from New York City. Paterson's location next to one of the largest waterfalls in the US led to industrial development in this area, especially prior to the age of steam-powered machinery when mills and factories relied upon moving water. Visitors to this National Historic Park can see the remnants of mills from the 18th and 19th centuries and learn about the history of industry and labor in this part of New Jersey. The park also tells the history of Paterson, established in 1791 as America's first planned city.

Paterson Great Falls National Historic Park

Public schools were part of the policies of Dutch colonies, including New Amsterdam (including parts of New York City and Passaic County). The Dutch West India Compoany sent a teacher to the colony in the 1640s and promised to 'defray a part of the expenses of education...the glorious work." The local clergyman or "consoler of the sick" (Zieken-trooster) often assumed the role of a second teacher. The first schoolhouse within the city limts of Paterson seems to have been at the corner of Market Street and Wesel Road, in the southeast portion of the town; the large stone building at the site by the late nineteenth century - about 20 by 40 feet - also accommodated the schoolmaster's residence for himself and his family in half of the structure. The school trustees installed a box stove for the pupils in 1825. Schooling was not free in Passaic County until 1827, however, when the city passed a measure to provide $275 to pay for school of the town's poor. The first free school opened in a rented lower room in the existing academy building in July 1827; in the first year, 134 students enrolled. The teacher was the Reverend Mr. Gibson, a graduate of Washington College in Pennsylvania. The public school was so successful that funding was increased to $500 in 1828. By the 1830s, the name "free schools for the poor" was axed in favor of "free schools" or "public schools." The new township of Paterson held its schools in 1835-1836 in Mechanics' Institute before moving to the basement of the Methodist Episcopal Church on Cross Street in 1837-1838. The next location was the basement of the Baptist/ German Presbyterian Church on Broadway, and then the corner of Union and Smith Streets, until that building burned down in 1846. Eventually, a two-story, 30 by 40 foot, wood frame schoolhouse - the original School Number Two - was built onto the rear of an existing building on the south side of Ellison Street between Main and Prospect. The city took over the schools in the 1850s. The Paterson Board of Education detailed school procedures in a manual in 1868. The school year began on September 1st and had three terms, ending in July. School was to begin Monday to Friday at 9 am, break at noon, resume at 2 pm, and end at 4 pm; the latter switched to 1:30 to 3:30 pm from November 1st to March 31st. Only one recess was given each day, from 10:30 to 10:50 am. A male principal was required to be present in each school building, and to read - or have read - a passage from the Holy Scriptures at the opening of the morning session. The students were prohibited from exhibiting rude, immoral, or disorderly conduct. School teachers were required to be at least 16 years old (!) and to undergo an examination by the Board of Examiners; the Committee on Teachers could conduct further examinations on candidates. Teachers would receive one of three grades of certificates: First Grade meant able to be employed in any public school in the city. Second Grade teachers could work in grammar schools, and Third Grade applicants were only qualified to teach the young students in primary schools. One High School and one "Colored School" served the whoile city in the late 1860s, along with seven grammar/primary or primary school buildings. The teachers at Number Two in 1868 were Sarah J. Perry, E.E. Adams, Anna Tynan, Melissa Daggers, Nettie King, Louisa Fossett, and Emma Welsh. Public School. Number Two employed 16 teachers for 649 pupils by 1920, more than twice the number of teachers from 1868. A third-story enclosed walkway connects the 1871 School Two to the newer school building next door (built in 1921) that still houses School Two, serving about 550 students in grades kindergarten through eighth. The Paterson Board of Health occupied the 1871 School Two building by the late 1940s. The City of Paterson announced plans in 2020 to close two more of its nineteenth-century school buildings that would cost too much to keep in repair: School 14 (built in 1886) and the Urban Leadership Academy (School 17, built in 1891), both teaching grades kindergarten to fourth.

The brick building with the Mansard style roof at the corner of Mill and Passaic Streets was constructed in 1871 as a school building. "Public School Number Two" replaced an earlier, frame building a few blocks away that was too small and dilapidated for its 605 primary and grammar school students and seven teachers. A local architect, E.J.M. Derrick, designed the Victorian Gothic school building for the new Public School Number Two. The building is two-and-a-half stories tall and once sported a hipped roof bell tower above the front entrance. A new Public School Number Two was built next door in the 1920s, at 22 Passaic Street; the massive, three-story brick structure over a raised basement is still a city public school. The vacant school building from 1871 was listed in the National Register in 1977; it was owned by the New Jersey Department of Transportation at that time.

Public School Number Two

The Daniel Thompson House, at 8 Mill St. (previously at 10 Mill St.). was built on a lot bought by Thompson in 1833 from the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures (the founders of Paterson) for $500. The widowed Thompson sold the property in 1845 for $1.500. The Thompson House was constructed on a local sandstone foundation; after the 1979 move of the house, a new foundation was built. The front of the frame structure, veneered in brick, was painted green by the time it was documented for the National Register in 1979. Part of the south wall abuts the Ryle House. The gambrel roof was originally covered in wood shingles (some can be seen in the attic) and was covered in slate shingles or painted metal by 1979. A wooden cornice supported by brackets extends across the front of the house, and the roof is topped by two dormer windows in front (west) and one in back. The front entryways of both houses were rebuilt after the move, to allow direct access to the basement doorway. The wooden stoop at the main entryway was replaced in the late 1930s with one of poured concrete. The house was documented in 1940 for the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS); Peter Mancini was the occupant and owner after 1929. The Thompson House has had multiple renovations and alterations, including being converted into two apartments in the late 1940s. A two-story rear ell with basement and first floor doorways was added when the house was fairly new, according to archaeological evidence at the old site. Both houses were vacant by 1969. The John Ryle House, at 9 Mill St. (previously at 11 Mill St.), was owned by the English-born silk merchant for ten years (1849-1859). Later nicknamed the "Father of the Silk Induistry in Paterson," Ryle started several silk manufacturing companies in town. He served as the head of the Pioneer Silk Company. The John Ryle House is about 20 ft. by 52 ft., with a side hall plan inside. The roof is topped by a pair of dormer windows. added in around 1850. The front (west) wall is veneered in brick that used to be painted white (in 1979, when documented for the National Register). The south wall was clapboard covered by asbestos shingles. Part of the north wall abuts the Thompson House, just like it did when it used to be located up the street at 11 Mill St. The home originally had a central chimney, as seen in clues in the basement; a later chimney was built along the south wall in about 1870. A later, rear addition to the house has been removed, so the east facade was sealed with plywood and had no windows in 1979. Both houses were acquired by the City of Paterson using a Great Falls Redevelopment AssociationTitle IX Grant and have since been renovated. The northern of the pair (Thompson) now houses offices of Paterson Music Project, part of the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts. The non-profit offers intensive, tuition-free musical training and performance opportunities to Paterson schoolchildren after school. The Ryle House contains offices of Longstreet Development Corporation, kown for restoration of historic mills and other buildings; one of their projects is a few doors down, Argus (Yarn) Mills (also a Clio entry). Alexa Management Corporation also has offices in the Ryle House; they are affiliated with Longstreet and manage a number of rental and lease properties, including Argus Mills.

The two houses at 8 and 9 Mill Street are 2-1/2 stories with a raised basement and dormer windows; both were built in the early 1830s in the Federal style. The front facades of the frame houses have been faced in brick since the 1890s or earlier. The historic houses were moved to their present location in November 1979, from a location just up the street, to save them from demolition due to upcoming road realignment of Ellison Street. Daniel Thompson was the orignal owner of his house (now at 8 Mill Street). Thompson was a cotton manufacturer whose business was across the street. John Ryle occupied his house from 1849 to 1859 (now at 9 Mill Street). Ryle is credited with beginning the silk indistry in Paterson and served as the city's mayor in 1869-1870. The houses were listed together on the National Register in 1981. 

Thompson and Ryle Houses

William Adams manufactured mosquito netting in New York City in the 1830s. With his sons, Robert and Henry, William bought a former cotton factory in Paterson, Harmony Mill. William Adams and Company later became R &amp; H Adams. The Harmony Mill burned down in 1869; the brothers bought Essex Mill (on the west side of Mill Street) in 1870 from the Passaic Manufacturing Company, and made improvements to the brick structures, fed by mill races. The brothers bought the property across the street from Essex Mill in 1876; this is likely when they had the three-story brick warehouse built (on the east side of Mill Street, 6 Mill Street). The new brick warehouse was on a block with wood frame dwellings, directly across Mill Street from both the Essex Mill and Franklin Mill complex of brick buildings. Robert Adams retired in 1879. By 1881, 280 people worked in Essex Mill. R &amp; H Adams went out of business by the late 1890s; Henry Adams sold the property at 6 Mill St. to Tisha Gordon in 1899. The building at 6 Mill Street was vacant in 1899, according to the Sanborn map of Paterson, and still neighbored by wood frame dwellings, with saloons on each corner of the block. Henry Gordon owned the building from the 1920s to 1941 and it was known as "Gordon Mill." Gordon was a dealer in spun silk yarns, tram, and organizine. The Argus Yarn Company was manufacturing from another location in Paterson in the 1930s, at 26 Fulton Street. Aaron Minoff was the head of the company by 1938; he lived in Paterson by 1923 and worked as a weaver. By 1942, the company moved to 35 Fulton Street, where they sorted waste and textile byproducts. The firm bought the 6 Mill St. building from Henry Gordon, and the building became known as "Argus Mill." The building housed a sign manufacturing company by 1950. The Argus Mill building was owned by Paterson Renaissance Organization by the mid-1980s. The building's exposed beams, brick walls, and windows were retained in early twenty-first century renovations, and the "ghost" sign reading "ARGUS YARN CO" is visible on the southwest corner, facing the parking lot. The restoration project incorporated modern building guidelines for a school, and the building was to be used as an educational space for fifth and sixth graders. The property was available to lease in September 2014. Longstreet Development is the firm that renovated the historic building in 2012. The property was managed by the firm's association company, Alexa Management. Both firms have offices a few doors up Mill Street, in the John Ryle House (9 Mill St., also a Clio entry, with the adjacent Daniel Thompson House at 8 Mill St.). The proposed renovated Argus Mill building is slated to contain six apartments, community space, and office space. The adjacent parking lot will be the location of a ground-level parking garage topped by a four-story apartment complex with 68 more apartments. The housing units are intended for low-income, multi-generational households with grandparents raising grandchildren. The Grandparent Relatives Care Resource Center will occupy 1,000 square feet of office space. Lagos Partners is the developer for the proposed $36.6 million project, controlled by Owen Tonkins and Daryll Tyson.

This three-story brick building at 6 Mill Street was constructed in the mid-1870s as a warehouse for the textile mill R & H Adams, which was located on the west side of Mill Street. Robert and Henry Adams manufactured mosquito netting at the mill, and they stored the netting in the building at 6 Mill Street. The building later housed the Argus Yarn Mill starting in the 1940s. The interior of the building collapsed and had to be gutted before being restored in 2012. In 2020, plans were being made for the vacant building to be renovated again and turned into affordable housing and office space. Argus Mill was added to the existing National Register historic district for Great Falls of Paterson/Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures (SUM) in 1986, which already included the former mills across Mill Street. It also is listed in the City of Paterson Register of Historic Places. 

Argus Mill

Louis Francis Cristillo, better known by his stage name, Lou Costello, was born on March 6, 1906 in Paterson, New Jersey. As a youngster, he worked as a newsboy and soda jerk and admired the work of Charlie Chaplin. His penchant for misbehaving in grammar school led to a famous stint in detention, during which time his teacher required him to write “I’m a bad boy” one hundred times on the chalkboard. Costello later incorporated this line in his comedy routine. In high school, Costello excelled as an athlete, participating in several different sports including baseball, basketball, and football. After graduating high school, he took a job as a clerk in a hat store. By 1927, Costello had saved enough money to move to Hollywood. While living in Hollywood, he worked in a labor gang at Warner Brothers Studio. Later, he was promoted to stunt man. After suffering a serious injury from a fall, Costello quit and moved back east to New York.  In the Big Apple, Costello began his career in comedy. He rode the city’s burlesque circuit, quickly becoming one of its most popular comics. Throughout the early 1930s, Costello occasionally performed alongside Bud Abbott. In 1936, the two comics decided to team-up and thus was born one of the greatest comedy duos of all time. Two years later, already well-known in the New York burlesque scene, Abbott and Costello gained national notoriety when singer Kate Smith invited them on her popular radio show.  Beginning in the 1940s, the comedy duo’s fame grew as they began appearing regularly on the silver screen. In 1940, Abbott and Costello’s first film, One Night in the Tropics, debuted. The following year, Buck Privates was released. The film garnered rave reviews and was a smashing success, leading to the production and released of several additional films featuring the comedic duo. One such film, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), is widely regarded as their best film.  In the early 1950s, as their star status on the silver screen began to fade, Abbott and Costello transitioned to television. Between 1950 and 1955, the duo hosted The Colgate Comedy Hour. From 1952 to 1954, they starred in CBS’s The Abbott and Costello Show. In 1956, the duo decided to split up.  Three years later, Costello collapsed at his home while watching television. He was rushed to Doctors Hospital in Beverly Hills. After spending several days in the hospital, the comic suffered a fatal heart attack on the afternoon of March 3, 1959. He was fifty-two years old. His remains were buried in a mausoleum in Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles.  In the early 1990s, in partnership with the Lou Costello Memorial Association, the City of Paterson created Lou Costello Memorial Park in downtown Paterson. There, they erected a life-size bronze statue of the legendary comic. Entitled “Lou’s on First,” the statue depicts Costello holding a bat on his shoulder, a nod to his and Abbott’s famous skit, “Who’s on First?” In March 2020, the City of Patterson announced plans to fully redesign the park, which had fallen into disrepair. The project is expected to take eighteen months to complete.

Erected in the early 1990s by the City of Paterson in partnership with the Lou Costello Memorial Association, the Lou Costello Memorial Statue is located in Lou Costello Memorial Park in downtown Paterson, New Jersey. The life-size bronze statue, entitled “Lou’s on First,” commemorates the life and career of actor and comedian Lou Costello. A native of Paterson, Costello teamed-up with Bud Abbott to form one of the greatest comedy duos of all time. For a period of twenty years, between 1936 and 1956, the duo appeared on radio and Broadway and starred in many films and television shows. Costello died on March 3, 1959 after suffering a heart attack. He was fifty-two years old. His remains are buried in Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Lou Costello Memorial Statue

The people of Paterson petitioned for their own government in 1831, and the New Jersey Legislature established the Township of Paterson. Twenty years later, the voters endorsed the formation of the City of Paterson; a charter created the "President and Council of the City of Paterson." The first City Council meeting was held in the law office of Socrates Tuttle and subsequent meetings took place in the house of Ann Cunningham, on Main Street near Van Houten. The titles were soon changed to Mayor and Alderman; each Alderman wore a leather badge, inscribed with the ward of the city that they represented. The city acquired and significantly expanded the former house of Aaron S. Pennington on Washington Street for use as the first city hall. This project required cutting back the slope and adding onto the lower level. Plans for the centennial of Paterson in 1896 included building a new city hall. In 1891, the Centennial Committee, including Edward T. Bell. a local banker, proposed that the city "construct a building for municipal purposes commemorating the progress and achievements" of the people in Paterson in the last one hundred years, containing a floor or room to hold objects related to the city's history. A number of proposed sites for the new city hall were visited, and the one chosen was the location of the Hamilton House property on Ellison. Colt, and Market Streets. The city condemned and sold the house and paid the tenants to shorten their lease. The architectural firm chosen was Carrere and Hastings from New York City. The city hall took four years to build and was dedicated at centennial celebrations on July 6th 1896. The building occupies a location called Hamilton Square. The new city hall was among the buildings damaged by a huge fire that raged in the center of the city on February 9th and 10th 1902. While the stone exterior survived, much was too damaged and had to be replaced; the interior of city hall was a total loss. The former city hall also was destroyed in the fire. Temporarily, the mayor and other city officials met in parts of the courthouse, the jail, and the post office. Two commemorative stained glass windows by New Yorker H.T. Schladermundt, unveiled in 1897, survived the fire; one honors John Ryle, the father of the local silk industry and the other depicts the city's first mayor, John J. Brown. The redone City Hall, completed using the original plans and builders, reopened in November 1903. When viewing the front, facing Market Street, the building looks to only have three stories; the fourth floor is set back, and is seen on the rear of the building, along Ellison Street, along with the projecting rear wings. The secondary plaza along Ellison Street used to have lawns and curved walkways; when Ellison Street was widened in 1973, some of the plaza was lost and the remainder is now concrete-surfaced. Centered doors on the south (main) and north facades lead to vestibules with arched ceilings; arched doorways enter the central lobby with the main staircase and elevators. A cross corridor links the smaller side vestibules (east and west) to the central lobby. The lobby was decorated with wainscoting and pilasters of imitation marble. Several of the third-floor rooms were two stories tall including the City Council chamber while the Historical Room and the Library had lowered ceilings installed by the 1990s. The basement holds storage, mechanical services, and secondary office space. A stained glass window honoring a former mayor, Raymond Newman, was installed in the 1920s in the main stairwell. New Otis elevators were installed in the 1930s. Skylights over the fourth floor were covered by the 1990s.

This historic structure was built to mark the city's centennial in 1896. The limestone building features the Beaux Arts style of architecture and the design of the clock tower was inspired by the city hall of Lyon in France, the center of the silk industry in Europe. A statue by the front entrance honors Garret Augustus Hobart (1844-1899), a local politician and the 24th Vice President under William McKinley from 1897 to 1899.  The bronze statue was ready in 1902 but was not installed until 1904 owing to a 1902 fire that required significant reconstruction of the building's interior. The Paterson City Hall was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 and still serves as the seat of city government. 

Paterson City Hall

The U.S. Congress enacted in June 1888 "an act for the erection of a public building in Paterson." The act appropriated $80,000 to buy a lot and build a structure to house a Post Office and other federal government offices. The building was required to contain fire-proof vaults and be not less than 40 feet from another building, to reduce chances of catching on fire. The architects were master architects for the U.S. Department of the Treasury: William Martin Aiken and James Knox Taylor. It took years for the project to take shape because the funds allotted at first were too low and the residents of Patterson objected to the building's first proposed location. A second act of Congress in early 1892 raised the allotment for the site and building to $200,000. After more searching for a site, the federal government purchased a part of the Colt's Hill property in early 1893 for $22,000. It may have been chosen because the high ground would be unlikely to flood, and it was between the riverfront factories and the train depot, so convenient for a Custom House. The supervisor of construction was Fred Wesley Wentworth and the contractor was McIlvain, Unkefer Company. The Post Office moved into the building in late September 1899. The building served as the Post Office and Customs House until 1933 when a new Post Office was constructed at the corner of Market and Straight Streets. The building was sold to Passaic Couty in 1935 for $50,000. The U.S. Customs House and Post Office building is significant as the work of architectural masters and for its high artistic value. The distinctive design is recognizable as Dutch-inspired by its stepped and quoined gables and its Zeeland lion and shield motifs. Some of the town's early workers were Flemish silk-spinners and weavers. The building is three stories tall over a basement. The building's main entrance is on the west end facing Hamilton Street, with three pronounced stepped gables. Three towers top the building, including a clock tower on the north side, facing Ward St., above a secondary, central bay entrance. Another tower is octagonal, containing a stair tower near the north side of the structure. The third tower, on the south side, facing the Old Passaic County Court House, is for ventilation. The complex, steeply-pitched roof is covered in clay tiles. Some of the distinctive features of the interior are the vaulted entrance halls, grand staircase, and the 1936 Art Deco style Hearing Room/ Freeholder Room. When Passaic County bought the building from the federal government in 1936, the two-story-tall room that held the U.S. Post Office workroom, near the east end of the building, was modified by adding a floor to create a second story. An underground tunnel connected the newly-christened Passaic County Court House Annex to the Passaic County Court House in 1936. Passaic County closed the Court House Annex building to the public in 2011. Nearly $4 million was appropriated by the county in 2017 for renovations to the Court House Annex; some of the rest of the ca. $8 million came from grants. LAN Associates of Midland, New Jersey, carried out the renovations while respecting the historic character of the building and "consolidating New Jersey Courts System in one complex." The project started with asbestos abatement and demolition, and then moved to refurbish historic finishes, adding new mechanical/ electrical/ plumbing/ elevators, and new interior finishes. The building now contains some county judicial offices, including Passaic County Family Court, Small Claims Court, and Superior Court Probation Division.

This historic customs house and post office was constructed in 1899 and features dark brick accented with limestone and a complex roofline with three towers. Passaic County acquired the Dutch Baroque Revival Style building in 1936 for use as the Passaic County Administration Building, and it is now the Court House Annex. Passaic County's administrative offices moved to a new building in 1994, behind the new court house, at 401 Grand St. The Court House Annex building underwent extensive renovations from 2017 to 2021. The building is part of a National Register Historic District that also includes the neighboring Old Passaic County Courthouse (the domed building at 71 Hamilton Street, also a Clio entry).



U.S. Customs House and Post Office/ Court House Annex 

Passaic County bought 20 lots of land for a new courthouse in 1891 that was once part of the Colt Hill Estate. The estate once held the mansion of the Governor of the Society for Useful Manufactures (S.U.M.), the industrial organization that founded Paterson in the late eighteenth century. A competition for the architectural design for the courthouse was announced in 1896, with the winner to receive the contract and runners up getting cash prizes. A professor at Columbia College in New York City chose the winner and 11 runners up. The county commission disagreed and chose a different design from among the rejected designs, by Samuel Burrage Reed. Some of the losing architects sued but the county won in U.S. District Court. The entrances to what is now called the "Old Passaic County Court House" face west and east and feature prominent porticoes, fluted columns topped by Corinthian capitals, and decorative carved pediments. The main (west) entrance pediment sports five figures and a central cartouche inscribed "1837" supported by two of the figures. The exterior, copper-clad dome is said to resemble the dome of a Roman temple built in 1502, the Tempietto of San Pietro in Montorio, by Italian architect Donato Brumante. The 16-section cupola and the dome have been painted over in dark brown paint. A statue crowns the upper mini cupola, of the Goddess of Liberty, holding a torch in one hand and a sword by one side. The limestone building on a granite base has three stories and a basement. The first floor central hallway passes under the rotunda, which is open to the second and third floors. The main two-story ceremonial courtrooms are on the second floor, on the east and west. A connecting corridor from the basement dates to 1936 and leads north to the basement of the U.S. Customs House and Post Office/ Court House Annex. A former minor entrance into the north wing portico has been replaced by a modern window. The original roof was copper, with nine ventilated skylights which have been removed; the current roof is of porous terracotta block over a rubber membrane. Two bronze statues decorate the grounds of the Old Court House. One honors a Peterson native and local politician, James Fleming Stewart, who served as a local representative to the U.S. House of Representatives from 1895 to 1903. Stewart died at age 52, just a few weeks after the Court House opened. The statue was the work of local artist Gaetano Federici and was erected in 1906. Federici also created the other statue, of William Hughes, a Peterson native who worked in the local silk mills before becoming a lawyer and judge. Hughes served multiple terms as a U.S. Congressman and then as a U.S. Senator from 1913 to 1918, where he was a leader in the labor movement. The Hughes statue was erected in 1927. The weathered, oxidized statues on granite bases were restored several years ago. Architect Elsworth M. Lee oversaw minor alterations to the Old Court House interior in 1930. A new building was constructed next door (to the south) for the Passaic County Court House in 1968; the Old Court House is connected to the new building. The two grand staircases in the Old Court House rotunda were demolished in the 1960s. The historic front entrance was closed for nearly three decades before the entrance was reopened. The portion of Hamilton Street directly in front of the Old Court House was closed and became part of the building's plaza after 2010. The stained glass inner dome was refurbished. Preservation of the Old Court House is the perview of Passaic County's Department of Cultural and Historic Affairs (DCHA), since the county owns the building.

The Old Passaic County Courthouse was built at 71 Hamilton Street between 1898 and 1903; the domed limestone building is in the form of a Greek cross and is late Italian Renaissance Revival style. The building and grounds with statuary were nominated to the National Register in 2015 as an historic district, along with a contemporary building to the north, the former U.S. Customs House and Post Office/ now County Annex (at 63-65 Hamilton, also a Clio entry). In 1968, a new building was constructed adjacent to the south grounds to house the new Passaic County Courthouse (77 Hamilton Street). A low wall of stone or cast iron outlines the district and dates to the late 19th/early 20th century. Both buildings also are listed in the New Jersey Register.

Old Passaic County Courthouse

In 1820, the Diocese of New York—which at that time comprised all of New York state and northern New Jersey—assigned Father Richard Bulger, one of only eight priests in the entire diocese, to Paterson, New Jersey to serve its Catholic community. The following year, on land donated by the Society for Useful Manufactures (S.U.M.), Bulger constructed the first St. John the Baptist Church, a small wooden structure at the corner of Market and Mill Streets. In the mid-1830s, one of Bulger’s successors, Father Patrick Duffy, built the second St. John the Baptist Church, a stone house of worship on Oliver Street, on land donated by prominent businessman Roswell Colt.  In 1863, in the middle of the Civil War, Reverend William McNulty came to Paterson from Madison, New Jersey to become the thirteenth pastor of St. John the Baptist Church. Upon his arrival, the Irish-born priest concluded that the church was far too small for the city’s growing population and Catholic community. McNulty then embarked on an ambitious building project. He purchased land from the S.U.M. and hired Patrick Charles Keely—a prolific Irish-born church architect whose body of work included cathedrals in Boston and Chicago—to design the new house of worship. In September 1865, Bishop James R. Bayley laid the cornerstone of the new church. Constructed of brownstone quarried in nearby Little Falls and built by the hands of its parishioners, the third St. John the Baptist Church was officially dedicated at the end of July 1870.  While the church began holding services soon after its dedication, much work remained to be done. Over the next two decades, various interior and exterior projects were completed. In 1872, the rectory, the residence of the parish priest, was built. Six years later, the temporary altar was replaced by a massive wooden altar. In the 1880s, a new organ was installed and work wrapped up on the front minarets and the tower spire. Finally, in June 1890, Bishop Winand Wigger consecrated the church.  Once completed, the Gothic Revival church measured 180 feet long and eighty feet wide. Its front minarets reached 120 feet into the sky. The spire atop its tower, however, dwarfed them, rising 225 feet above the city. Inside the house of worship, sixty-foot tall stone columns supported the slate roof.  Decades after its completion, St. John the Baptist Church received a designation fitting its impressive physical stature. In December 1937, Pope Pius XI founded the Diocese of Paterson from territory formerly belonging to the Diocese of Newark. He then named St. John the Baptist Church, formerly only a parish church, as its cathedral, the seat of the new diocese.  Unfortunately, Reverend McNulty was not around to experience the moment. He died in 1922 at the age of ninety-three after having served St. John the Baptist Church as its parish priest for nearly sixty years. Today, his remains lay buried beneath a monument in front of the cathedral. The monument, a bronze likeness of himself, stands to commemorate his service to the Catholic community of Paterson and the fundamental role he played in the cathedral’s creation.

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is a Roman Catholic cathedral and parish church located in Paterson, Passaic County, New Jersey. Designed by prolific Irish-born church architect Patrick Charles Keely, constructed of brownstone quarried in nearby Little Falls, and built by the hands of its parishioners, the Gothic Revival church was dedicated in July 1870 and began holding services soon afterwards. In December 1937, Pope Pius XI designated it the cathedral (or seat) of the newly-formed Diocese of Paterson. The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist was placed on the New Jersey and National Register of Historic Places in the late 1970s.

Downtown Patterson New Jersey Walking Tour

The Paterson Museum

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information