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| Wouldn't this be a great place to work? |
U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Paterson Mayor Jeffery Jones signed an agreement two weeks ago dedicating Paterson Great Falls National
Historical Park as the 397th national park. Hopefully there will be some money to make this come true. The planning phase is slotted to last three years.
Sunday was such a beautiful day that Gary and I decided to revisit the falls, which we hadn't done since the summer of 1989, when Nana and Grandpa were here from Florida. I always had a busy agenda of sightseeing planned when they came. One time when we were trekking across the Bronx Zoo in 95 degree humidity, Nana commented, "You know we're happy just to sit on your deck and watch the kids play." But it was a nice day back then in '89 and everyone enjoyed the falls. Notice how leafy green everything was that summer. One other thing stands out as being different. See if you can pick it out:
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| Summer 1989 |
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| Fall 2011 |
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| Did you spot the difference? No fencing back in 1989. You could go right up to the stone wall. The spiked fencing was added later. |
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| Who's the skinny guy with the triathlon shirt? Some things have changed and some haven't! |
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| Apparently he wouldn't have any clothes if he didn't run races. |
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| Notable: Eric sticking out his tongue and me with a curly perm. |
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| Me with straight hair and a rainbow |
The other big difference between 1989 and 2011? In the pre-digital world, we took 5 pictures. Sunday Gary took 25. Here are a few more:
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| Alexander Hamilton, who saw the falls as a source of power to build an industrial city where anyone could work and achieve the American Dream. |
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| The power plant has been operating since 1914. Hamilton had created the initial corporation - SUM- Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures. |
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| Scaffolding on power plant to the left |
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| View from the top of the falls |
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View of Paterson from downriver
Ginny: I took my little sister there probably around the early to mid 90s. Very nice but I remember there being tons of trash around. I hope it can become a national park and be better preserved. It's a beautiful surprise in the middle of a not-so-beautiful urban area.
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