The effort to create a more formal monument was led by the&nbsp;Huntoon-Van Rensalier Underground Railroad Foundation. The foundation was established by Dolores Van Rensalier after she discovered a document from 1904 that revealed that her great-grandfather had been active in the Underground Railroad. In 2014, the Foundation unveiled the statue. Those wishing to learn more about the Underground Railroad in Paterson should read Dolores Van Rensalier's book-simply click on the link below.&nbsp;

Prior to the current monument, this stone marked the location of the factory where Huntoon and Van Rensalier helped runaway slaves.

Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad-Click the link below to learn more about this book by Eric Foner.

Learn more about the Undergrond Railroad in Paterson with Dolores Van Rensalier's book, Bridge Street to Freedom: Landmarking a Station on the Underground Railroad

This monument shows the partnership of Josiah Huntoon and William Van Rensalier. The monument was dedicated in 2014. 

Article about the dedication of the new monument

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Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad

Book

Bridge Street to Freedom: Landmarking a Station on the Underground Railroad

During the 1850s, when Paterson was a growing commercial center, this was the location of Josiah Huntoon's Excelsior Coffee and Spice Factory. Huntoon came to support the abolition of slavery and used some of his wealth to support African Americans who fled slavery via the Underground Railroad. Huntoon worked with friend and business partner William Van Rensalier, an African American abolitionist whose connections to black communities allowed the pair to escape runaways who passed through Paterson. With Huntoon's support, and with the assistance of members of the nearby Godwin Street African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Van Rensalier sheltered the fugitives in this factory. The factory was demolished in the 1980s, but the site was commemorated by a stone that bore a plaque that told the story of Huntoon and Van Rensalier's efforts. After years of fundraising, the community raised funds to build this monument in honor of Huntoon and Van Rensalier.

Huntoon-Van Rensalier Station of the Underground Railroad 

This tour starts at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, which was constructed in 1870, and includes several museums and historic buildings as it makes its way towards sites related to the history of the African American community and Underground Railroad. New stops will be added to the tour as local historians create additional entries. 

Patterson New Jersey Walking Tour

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In 1820, the Diocese of New York—which at that time comprised all of New York state and northern New Jersey—assigned Father Richard Bulger, one of only eight priests in the entire diocese, to Paterson, New Jersey to serve its Catholic community. The following year, on land donated by the Society for Useful Manufactures (S.U.M.), Bulger constructed the first St. John the Baptist Church, a small wooden structure at the corner of Market and Mill Streets. In the mid-1830s, one of Bulger’s successors, Father Patrick Duffy, built the second St. John the Baptist Church, a stone house of worship on Oliver Street, on land donated by prominent businessman Roswell Colt.  In 1863, in the middle of the Civil War, Reverend William McNulty came to Paterson from Madison, New Jersey to become the thirteenth pastor of St. John the Baptist Church. Upon his arrival, the Irish-born priest concluded that the church was far too small for the city’s growing population and Catholic community. McNulty then embarked on an ambitious building project. He purchased land from the S.U.M. and hired Patrick Charles Keely—a prolific Irish-born church architect whose body of work included cathedrals in Boston and Chicago—to design the new house of worship. In September 1865, Bishop James R. Bayley laid the cornerstone of the new church. Constructed of brownstone quarried in nearby Little Falls and built by the hands of its parishioners, the third St. John the Baptist Church was officially dedicated at the end of July 1870.  While the church began holding services soon after its dedication, much work remained to be done. Over the next two decades, various interior and exterior projects were completed. In 1872, the rectory, the residence of the parish priest, was built. Six years later, the temporary altar was replaced by a massive wooden altar. In the 1880s, a new organ was installed and work wrapped up on the front minarets and the tower spire. Finally, in June 1890, Bishop Winand Wigger consecrated the church.  Once completed, the Gothic Revival church measured 180 feet long and eighty feet wide. Its front minarets reached 120 feet into the sky. The spire atop its tower, however, dwarfed them, rising 225 feet above the city. Inside the house of worship, sixty-foot tall stone columns supported the slate roof.  Decades after its completion, St. John the Baptist Church received a designation fitting its impressive physical stature. In December 1937, Pope Pius XI founded the Diocese of Paterson from territory formerly belonging to the Diocese of Newark. He then named St. John the Baptist Church, formerly only a parish church, as its cathedral, the seat of the new diocese.  Unfortunately, Reverend McNulty was not around to experience the moment. He died in 1922 at the age of ninety-three after having served St. John the Baptist Church as its parish priest for nearly sixty years. Today, his remains lay buried beneath a monument in front of the cathedral. The monument, a bronze likeness of himself, stands to commemorate his service to the Catholic community of Paterson and the fundamental role he played in the cathedral’s creation.

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is a Roman Catholic cathedral and parish church located in Paterson, Passaic County, New Jersey. Designed by prolific Irish-born church architect Patrick Charles Keely, constructed of brownstone quarried in nearby Little Falls, and built by the hands of its parishioners, the Gothic Revival church was dedicated in July 1870 and began holding services soon afterwards. In December 1937, Pope Pius XI designated it the cathedral (or seat) of the newly-formed Diocese of Paterson. The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist was placed on the New Jersey and National Register of Historic Places in the late 1970s.

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist 

History of the Paterson Museum
The Paterson Museum dates back to 1925, as the City of Paterson Library’s Board of Trustees sought a way to collect and preserve Paterson industrial history. Through donations of natural history items from local residents, the museum began operating in the assembly room of the Danforth Public Library.&nbsp;The museum moved to the carriage house of former Paterson mayor and philanthropist Nathan Barnert in 1927, and since then, Paterson Museum continued gathering thousands of artifacts and other items.&nbsp;Due to this growth, the museum needed more space to accommodate its newfound variety of exhibits. That answer came with the completed restorations of the Thomas Rogers Locomotive Erecting Shop in 1982, and the museum moved to its current locale near the famous Great Falls of Passaic.1
Exhibits and Museum Features
Every year, thousands of visitors to the City of Paterson stop by the museum for its renowned diversity of educational exhibits. In addition to the beautiful backdrop of the Great Falls of Passaic, the museum also boasts its local archaeology, history, and mineralogy collections.&nbsp;Visitors to the museum can traverse natural history and the ancient history of the Native Americans who lived in the region, while in a different gallery, they can discover the evolution of the silk and textile industry in Paterson. Other exhibits display Paterson’s relationship to locomotive manufacturing, Colt arms, and the Holland submarines.2&nbsp;

Known as the focal point of the Old Great Falls Historic District and housed in the former Thomas Rogers Building, site of a former locomotive factory, the Paterson Museum tells the industrial history of the city of Paterson. Exhibits and the museum's collection showcase everything from the original Lenni Lenape inhabitants to the first elements that would define Paterson as a American industrial city. 

Some of the exhibits display the John P. Hollands submarine, various industrial machinery used during the silk boom, Native American artifacts, old locomotives, a range of old guns, and much more. Additionally, the Paterson Museum has a large collection of 1900s-era medicine and medicinal instruments. Rotating exhibits often feature art.

The Paterson Museum

Great Falls National Historic Park is a 118 acre historic site located 12 miles from New York City. Paterson's location next to one of the largest waterfalls in the US led to industrial development in this area, especially prior to the age of steam-powered machinery when mills and factories relied upon moving water. Visitors to this National Historic Park can see the remnants of mills from the 18th and 19th centuries and learn about the history of industry and labor in this part of New Jersey. The park also tells the history of Paterson, established in 1791 as America's first planned city.

Paterson Great Falls National Historic Park

Louis Francis Cristillo, better known by his stage name, Lou Costello, was born on March 6, 1906 in Paterson, New Jersey. As a youngster, he worked as a newsboy and soda jerk and admired the work of Charlie Chaplin. His penchant for misbehaving in grammar school led to a famous stint in detention, during which time his teacher required him to write “I’m a bad boy” one hundred times on the chalkboard. Costello later incorporated this line in his comedy routine. In high school, Costello excelled as an athlete, participating in several different sports including baseball, basketball, and football. After graduating high school, he took a job as a clerk in a hat store. By 1927, Costello had saved enough money to move to Hollywood. While living in Hollywood, he worked in a labor gang at Warner Brothers Studio. Later, he was promoted to stunt man. After suffering a serious injury from a fall, Costello quit and moved back east to New York.  In the Big Apple, Costello began his career in comedy. He rode the city’s burlesque circuit, quickly becoming one of its most popular comics. Throughout the early 1930s, Costello occasionally performed alongside Bud Abbott. In 1936, the two comics decided to team-up and thus was born one of the greatest comedy duos of all time. Two years later, already well-known in the New York burlesque scene, Abbott and Costello gained national notoriety when singer Kate Smith invited them on her popular radio show.  Beginning in the 1940s, the comedy duo’s fame grew as they began appearing regularly on the silver screen. In 1940, Abbott and Costello’s first film, One Night in the Tropics, debuted. The following year, Buck Privates was released. The film garnered rave reviews and was a smashing success, leading to the production and released of several additional films featuring the comedic duo. One such film, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), is widely regarded as their best film.  In the early 1950s, as their star status on the silver screen began to fade, Abbott and Costello transitioned to television. Between 1950 and 1955, the duo hosted The Colgate Comedy Hour. From 1952 to 1954, they starred in CBS’s The Abbott and Costello Show. In 1956, the duo decided to split up.  Three years later, Costello collapsed at his home while watching television. He was rushed to Doctors Hospital in Beverly Hills. After spending several days in the hospital, the comic suffered a fatal heart attack on the afternoon of March 3, 1959. He was fifty-two years old. His remains were buried in a mausoleum in Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles.  In the early 1990s, in partnership with the Lou Costello Memorial Association, the City of Paterson created Lou Costello Memorial Park in downtown Paterson. There, they erected a life-size bronze statue of the legendary comic. Entitled “Lou’s on First,” the statue depicts Costello holding a bat on his shoulder, a nod to his and Abbott’s famous skit, “Who’s on First?” In March 2020, the City of Patterson announced plans to fully redesign the park, which had fallen into disrepair. The project is expected to take eighteen months to complete.

Erected in the early 1990s by the City of Paterson in partnership with the Lou Costello Memorial Association, the Lou Costello Memorial Statue is located in Lou Costello Memorial Park in downtown Paterson, New Jersey. The life-size bronze statue, entitled “Lou’s on First,” commemorates the life and career of actor and comedian Lou Costello. A native of Paterson, Costello teamed-up with Bud Abbott to form one of the greatest comedy duos of all time. For a period of twenty years, between 1936 and 1956, the duo appeared on radio and Broadway and starred in many films and television shows. Costello died on March 3, 1959 after suffering a heart attack. He was fifty-two years old. His remains are buried in Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Lou Costello Memorial Statue

Danforth Memorial Library, was built in 1905 and known as "Paterson Free Public Library" for many of its early years. This title reflects the fact that many early libraries were private organizations that required prospective members to purchase a membership. The building was constructed following a gift of Mary Danforth Ryle, the daughter of Charles Danforth who designed the first coal-burning locomotive. Mary Danforth Ryle's gift allowed the city to replace the previous library after it was destroyed by fire. That library had been located in Charles Danforth's home and had been donated to the city by Mary Danforth Ryle. Today, the historic library houses the city's art collection in addition to serving as the central library. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Danforth Memorial Library  

Martin Luther King Jr. gave a sermon at this church on March 27, 1968, eight days prior to his assassination in Memphis. 

Patterson New Jersey Walking Tour

Huntoon-Van Rensalier Station of the Underground Railroad

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