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Edison NHP Revisited➤

I first visited Thomas Edison National Historical Park several years ago, but Glenmont was closed that day because the park was celebrating Edison Day and all of the rangers were needed at the Laboratory Complex downtown. I later returned for a tour of the mansion, and in 2024 I had the chance to revisit the park once again.

This time, my godson from France was visiting, so I took him to see one of New Jersey’s most fascinating historic sites. We began at the Laboratory Complex, exploring Edison’s workshops, machinery, and invention rooms before heading over to Glenmont for the mansion tour. My godson was fascinated by the park and especially enjoyed seeing where so many famous inventions were created. He even posed for a photo with a life-size cardboard cutout of Thomas Edison.

Glenmont➤

Glenmont was Edison’s mansion, located about a mile from his laboratories and factories in West Orange. The 29-room home sits on 13 landscaped acres in Llewellyn Park, America’s first planned residential community.

To tour the mansion, visitors must first stop at the Visitor Center on Main Street to pick up a ticket. It’s best to arrive early because tickets often sell out by noon. Since Glenmont is located inside a gated community, you cannot enter without both a tour ticket and a vehicle pass.

Edison purchased Glenmont as a wedding gift for his new bride, Mina. He got quite a bargain. The original owner, a clerk for a dry goods company, had built the estate using $250,000 in embezzled funds. Edison paid $125,000 for the mansion, its outbuildings, the furnishings for all 29 rooms, and the surrounding property.

Mansion Tour➤

Photography was not allowed inside the mansion. The National Park Service has preserved the home much as it appeared during Edison’s lifetime, with many original furnishings and personal belongings still in place. Before our tour began, the ranger firmly warned us not to touch any artifacts or fall behind the group.

After spending time in the Laboratory Complex, it’s easy to wonder how much time Edison actually spent relaxing at home. He was known for working late into the night and taking short naps on a cot in his laboratory. Upstairs, however, the ranger pointed out the family room where Edison played checkers and other games with his children.

The upstairs family room was intentionally noisy, since Edison’s partial deafness meant the children could play as loudly as they wanted. Downstairs, the more elegant rooms were reserved for entertaining guests. Mina especially loved the bright conservatory, where she enjoyed watching birds through the large windows.

Edison placed the house in Mina’s name to protect it from any financial problems involving the Edison Company. If the business failed, the family would still have their home. In 1947, Mina sold Glenmont back to the company for just one dollar, with the condition that she be allowed to live there for the rest of her life and that the mansion eventually become a museum. Mina and Thomas Edison are buried in graves in the back yard.

Edison NHP Posts➤

• Laboratory Complex
• Recording Studio
• Glenmont

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Location: Llewelyn Park, West Orange, New Jersey
Designation: National Historical Park
Date designated/established: March 30, 2009
Date of my visit: November 9, 2020