The Age of Inventions -Thomas Edison National Historical Park

Known best perhaps for inventing the incandescent lightbulb and the phonograph, Thomas A. Edison was a true pioneer of his time.  Edison spent most of his lifetime as an inventor and entrepreneur In West Orange, NJ, where both his lush Glenmont Estate and a vast laboratory complex are located. It's only a 7.5 mile drive north of The DeBary Inn and Summit, NJ, and operates daily for visitors.

The most noteable attribute when visiting the Thomas Edison National Park is not that Edison was just a great inventor but that he created a new way to invent things by employing industrial research within a major development laboratory.  Using a team approach in collaboration with scientists and technicians, Edison perfected his phonograph and developed the first motion pictures, a nickel-iron-alkaline storage battery, and many other devices and technologies of the late 1800's.   Edison the inventor was also a shrewd entrepreneur who established dozens of companies during his career.  "I always invented to obtain money to go on inventing", he once said.  Well into old age Edison was trying new things: a technique for  poured concrete buildings, a flouroscope to view x-ray images, methods for manufacturing large quantities of chemicals, huge machines for extracting iron from ore and for manufacturing cement.  Edison's final search was for a domestic source of rubber.

Edison National Historic Site was established in 1962; in 2009 it became Thomas Edison National Historical Park.  The Park is a memorial to the man and a place where you can discover the roots of American inspiration and innovation.  For more information on visiting the either the Laboratory Complex Visitor's Center or The Edison Home at Glenmont please visit the website at www.nps.gov/edis  Phone #973-736-0550  Address: 211 Main St., West Orange, NJ 07052