We started our Summer 2018 Road Trip with a weekend visit to New Jersey to see family. My cousin recently had her second child and this was our first time seeing the baby. We had a great time visiting, playing with the kids, and eating a lot of my aunt's great Italian cooking. I think I gained 10 pounds in just one weekend.
Our lone adventure was a visit to the Thomas Edison National Historic Site in West Orange, which houses Edison's laboratory complex and
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| Edison's Laboratory Complex |
the family home Glenmont. We learned about Edison inventing the light bulb and the phonograph in school, but he and his team were constantly developing new things. So much of what we enjoy today such as cell phones, video and movies are built on the foundation of Edison and his team.
The story behind the family home is equally as fascinating. Located in Llewellyn Park, one of the first planned communities in the United States (and currently a gated community of very expensive homes), the house was originally built by Henry Pedder in 1882 at a cost of about $250,000. As it turned out, Pedder was embezzling the money from his employer in New York City.
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| Glenmont |
Rather than be prosecuted, he turned over the house to the company and Edison was able to buy it for a mere $125,000. The house was built with many modern amenities for its day, including separate hot and cold running water, and Edison wired it for electricity in 1887. Even by today's standards, the house would be a lovely place to live and raise a family, but I certainly couldn't afford it.
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