Visit Thomas Edison National Historical Park

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that New Jersey has the highest density of engineers and scientists per square mile in the whole country. When you consider the state's legacy of influential thinkers and inventors, including Thomas Edison, this statistic becomes even less surprising. The former residence and laboratory of Thomas Alva Edison are now a recognized national historic park in West Orange and are accessible to visitors for tours. In addition to the lamp, Edison also built a recording studio in this location and a few talking dolls. Recent visitors claim that, given their age, the studios and workshops within the facility are in surprisingly good shape.

If that's not remarkable enough, the grounds still house a copy of "Black Maria," the first motion picture studio built in the world in 1893. Glenmont, Edison and his wife Mina's Victorian mansion just down the road, had all the modern conveniences decades before their time, including hot and cold running water, central heating, and refrigerators.

Address: 211 Main St., West Orange, NJ 07052
Website: https://www.nps.gov/edis/index.htm
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