The Eighth Congressional District of New Jersey is in many ways a microcosm of America.   It is home to remarkable chapters of our nation’s history as well as diverse urban and suburban communities that represent the very essence of our new century.  The District is made up of 21 cities and towns in southern Passaic and northern Essex Counties.

Passaic County

Passaic County makes up 11 of the 21 towns represented by Congressman Pascrell, including  a mix of urban centers such as Paterson and Passaic City and suburbs Totowa, Wayne, Pompton Lakes, Little Falls, Clifton, West Paterson, Haledon, Prospect Park, and part of North Haledon.

The county seat, the City of Paterson, is our nation’s first planned industrial city. Paterson was conceived and planned by Alexander Hamilton.  The city saw the initial manufacture of the revolver by Samuel Colt in the 1830’s and the first locomotive, the “Sandusky.”  It ultimately became known as America’s “Silk City,” employing 25,000 silk mill workers before transitioning into a cloth-dying center as more and more immigrants arrived from England, Italy, Ireland and other parts of the world.   A true melting pot soon took hold, and still exists today.  Click here for more on the industrial history of Paterson. 

Paterson also proudly boasts the Great Falls, which was the cornerstone for this industrial revolution.  Today, the Falls is the 2^nd largest free-standing waterfall east of the Mississippi River, reaching 70-feet tall and 60 feet wide.  In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford visited the area and officially designated the 119-acre Great Falls-“Society for Establishing Useful Manufacturers” historic district as a national historic landmark.   President Ford was welcomed to Paterson by Bill Pascrell, then serving as the City’s Director of Public Works. 

Emptying into the Great Falls is the Passaic River, Northern New Jersey’s longest river, spanning some 90 miles.  The Passaic flows through 7 counties and 45 municipalities throughout New Jersey.  It continues from the Falls south through Passaic County down to Newark Bay in Essex County, and serves as the border between Passaic and Bergen Counties as well.  

Passaic County is also home to the historic American Labor Museum known as the Botto House, located in the Borough of Haledon.  Named for immigrant silk workers Maria and Pietro Botto from Northern Italy, the Botto House is listed on the state and national registers of historic places. In 1913, the Botto House served as the rallying point for thousands of striking workers and their families during the Paterson Silk Strike.  The workers from the "Silk City" were seeking an eight-hour work day as well as an end to child labor.  Today, the museum preserves the memory of these workers, whose sacrifices and dedication advanced the cause of working people everywhere.

In Wayne, the Dey Mansion sits as a visible reminder of the Revolutionary War.  It was there that General George Washington set up his headquarters in the Preakness Valley in 1780.  After housing several generations of the Dey family and being sold to private owners, the mansion was sold to the Passaic County Park Commission and opened to the public in 1934.

In the Township of Little Falls, The Morris Canal Pedestrian Way and Preserve commemorates what the National Canal Museum calls “the most unique of America's towpath waterways.”  The canal was completed in 1831 and over the next decades saw large amounts of New Jersey-made iron ore shipped west to places such as the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania.  In Little Falls, the canal spanned about two miles and crossed the Passaic and Peckman rivers through aqueducts. Boats navigated the canal with the help of mules or horses, which pulled the boats while they walked along the towpath that ran parallel to the canal. 

Essex County

The wonderful history of the Eighth District extends throughout Essex County as well. European settlement of Essex County began in 1609 when Henry Hudson discovered Newark Bay. The English eventually purchased all of the land from the Indians forming a base for the English Colonies in New Jersey.  Since then Essex County has grown exponentially, becoming the most densely populated county in the State. 

Through the years, Essex County has been a place where economic and technological growth have flourished.  During World War I, Essex became one of the nation's leaders in shipbuilding, radio equipment, electrical goods and leather products, with Port Newark developing into a major port of world trade.  Since then, Essex County has grown to become the banking, insurance, transportation and education center of the state with industrial parks, office buildings, shopping centers, as well as residential neighborhoods found in all parts of the county. 

Congressman Pascrell represents 10 towns surrounding the City of Newark, including Bloomfield, Belleville, Cedar Grove, Nutley, Glen Ridge, Verona, and parts of South Orange, Livingston, Montclair, and West Orange.

Thomas Alva Edison lived and worked in the Township of West Orange from 1886 until his death in 1931.  Life Magazine’s ‘Man of the Millennium” lived at Glenmont in  “Llewellan Park, itself the nation’s first residential community, and it was in his West Orange laboratories where the first motion picture, “The Great Train Robbery” was made.  Edison often entertained at Glenmont as well, with his guest lists including Orville Wright, Helen Keller, Charles and Anne Lindbergh, and Henry Ford.

Essex County also houses within its borders South Mountain Reservation, located on over 2,000 acres in West Orange, Maplewood, Millburn and bordering South Orange. Home to the Turtle Back Zoo and the training facility for the 2000 Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils hockey team, the Reservation is also a bona fide Revolutionary War historic site. Washington Rock was the site of Beacon Signal Station 9,  a lookout point for Washington dating back to the 1700's.  One of 23 built by Washington, it was designed to observe British Troop movements quartered on Staten Island and New York City.

Another site of great interest is Branch Brook Park, located within the district’s borders in Belleville. The park is known for being the preeminent location for American display of Japanese cherry trees (more commonly known as Cherry Blossoms).  The park's display exceeds even the famed Tidal Basin collection in Washington, D.C., where the first trees were planted as gifts from the mayor of Tokyo. A half million people visit the park each April when

the cherry blossoms are in full bloom.   Branch Brook Park has been placed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

In fact, with its winding roads, natural blended waterways, open fields and overlooks, Essex County holds the distinction of having the nation’s oldest county park system.  It was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, a pioneer in landscape architecture who designed New York City’s famed Central Park as well as the Capitol grounds in Washington D.C.

The Township of Verona is home to the Annin & Co. the world's oldest and largest flag manufacturer. Starting from a sail loft in downtown New York City making signal flags for sailing ships in the 1820's, Annin became incorporated in 1847 and has grown to five manufacturing locations with worldwide distribution. As the official flag manufacturer to the United Nations, Annin's international flags are the standard for exactness that are followed by the rest of the world. By the very nature of its principal product, the American Flag, Annin has been closely identified with United States history over the past 150 years.

For example, when Zachary Taylor was sworn in as President in 1849, a flag made by Annin waved nearby. This tradition has continued at every inauguration since, and Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush personally visited Annin during his campaign for the Presidency in 1988.

The District is as diverse as it is historic.  Whether through cities like Paterson and Passaic, or suburbs such as Bloomfield and Wayne, the District represents the melting post envisioned by our founding fathers.  It is a place where we can both celebrate our past and embrace our future.