Paterson () is the largest city in and the county seat of Passaic County, in the North Jersey region of the U.S. state of New Jersey.New Jersey County Map , New Jersey Department of State. Accessed July 10, 2017. As of the 2020 United States census, Paterson was the state's third-most-populous municipality,Table1. New Jersey Counties and Most Populous Cities and Townships: 2020 and 2010 Censuses , New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Accessed December 1, 2022. with a population of 159,732, an increase of 13,533 (+9.3%) from the 2010 census count of 146,199, which in turn reflected a decline of 3,023 (-2.0%) from the 149,222 counted in the 2000 census.Table 7. Population for the Counties and Municipalities in New Jersey: 1990, 2000 and 2010 , New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, February 2011. Accessed May 1, 2023. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated a population of 161,793 for 2025, making it the 165th-most populous municipality in the nation.Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places of 20,000 or More, Ranked by July 1, 2025 Population: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2025, United States Census Bureau, released May 2026. Accessed June 1, 2026.
A prominent mill town within the New York–New Jersey metropolitan area, Paterson has been known as Silk City for its once-dominant role in silk production during the latter half of 19th century.Thomasch, Paul. "Irene another blow to struggling New Jersey city" , Reuters, September 1, 2011. Accessed January 24, 2012. "Nicknamed the 'Silk City' for its 19th-century silk factories, Paterson has a place in labor history as the site of a six-month strike in 1913 by the Industrial Workers of the World, or 'Wobblies,' who were viewed as a threat to capitalism at a time when the United States had a radical labor movement." It has since evolved into a major destination for Hispanic immigrants as well as for immigrants from Turkey, the Arab world, and South Asia. Paterson has the nation's second-largest per capita Muslim population."Robert Menendez, New Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair: 'No Daylight Between US, Israel On My Watch'", The Algemeiner, March 13, 2013. Accessed January 27, 2015. "JNS.org asked Menendez if his public support for the Jewish community and for Israel in any way has conflicted with his work in diverse New Jersey communities such as Paterson, a city that is home to the second-largest Muslim population in the U.S. as well as a mosque, the Islamic Center of Passaic County, whose leader, Mohammad Qatanani, is allegedly a member of Hamas."
History
The area of Paterson was inhabited by the Algonquian-speaking Native American Acquackanonk tribe of the Lenape, also known as the Delaware Indians. The land was known as the Lenapehoking. The Dutch claimed the land as New Netherlands, followed by the British as the Province of New Jersey.Scott, William Winfield. "The Founding of Passaic 250 years ago" , Passaic County Historical Society, September 1, 1929. Accessed January 27, 2015.
Establishment In 1791, Alexander Hamilton (1755/57–1804), first United States Secretary of the Treasury, helped found the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures (S.U.M.), which helped encourage the harnessing of energy from the Great Falls of the Passaic River to secure economic independence from British manufacturers. The society founded Paterson, which became the cradle of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.District Significance , Paterson Friends of the Great Falls. Accessed September 4, 2011. Paterson was named for William Paterson, statesman, signer of the Constitution and Governor of New Jersey, who signed the 1792 charter that established the Town of Paterson.Who Was William Paterson? , William Paterson University. Accessed September 4, 2011. "He also supported a proposal by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton and a group of investors to incorporate them as the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures (SUM). In 1792 he signed the charter incorporating SUM as well as a municipal charter covering 36 square miles for the Corporation of the Town of Paterson at the site of the Great Falls of the Passaic River."Hutchinson, Viola L. The Origin of New Jersey Place Names , New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed September 16, 2015.
Architect, engineer and city planner Pierre L'Enfant (1754–1825), who had earlier developed the initial plans for Washington, D.C., was the first planner for the S.U.M. project. His plan proposed to harness the power of the Great Falls through a channel in the rock and an aqueduct. The society's directors felt he was taking too long and was over budget; he was replaced by Peter Colt, who used a less complicated reservoir system to get the water flowing to factories in 1794. Eventually, Colt's system developed some problems and a scheme resembling L'Enfant's original plan was used after 1846.Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures , Paterson Friends of the Great Falls. Accessed August 15, 2011.Introduction: Project Copy of the Calendar of the S.U.M. Collection of Manuscripts from the New Jersey Historical Records Survey, Paterson Friends of the Great Falls, backed up by the Internet Archive as of March 11, 2015. Accessed December 9, 2016.
Paterson was originally formed as a township from portions of Acquackanonk Township on April 11, 1831, while the area was still part of Essex County. It became part of the newly created Passaic County on February 7, 1837, and was incorporated as a city on April 14, 1851, based on the results of a referendum held that day. The city was reincorporated on March 14, 1861.Snyder, John P. The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606–1968 , Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 210. Accessed May 30, 2024.
Industrial growth The Great Falls and a system of water raceways that harnessed the falls' power provided power for the mills in the area until 1914 and fostered growth of the city.Narvaez, Alfonso A. "Historic Power Plant Reborn At The Great Falls In Paterson" , The New York Times, June 30, 1987. Accessed April 18, 2012. The district originally included dozens of mill buildings and other manufacturing structures associated with the textile industry and, later, the firearms, silk, and railroad locomotive manufacturing industries. Silk making grew to become the leading industry in the late 19th century that led to the most flourishing times for Paterson, hence giving it the moniker "Silk City."Paterson, New Jersey:America's Silk City, National Park Service. Accessed April 18, 2012. "These mills manufactured many things during the long history of this industrial city—cotton textiles, steam locomotives, Colt revolvers, and aircraft engines. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they produced silk fabrics in such quantities that Paterson was known as 'Silk City.'"
In 1835, Samuel Colt began producing firearms in Paterson, but within a few years moved his business to Hartford, Connecticut. Later in the 19th century, Paterson was the site of early experiments with submarines by Irish-American inventor John Philip Holland. Two of Holland's early models—one found at the bottom of the Passaic River—are on display in the Paterson Museum, housed in the former Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works near the Passaic Falls.Sachs, Andrea. "Escapes: Paterson, N.J.'s Great Falls is an urban oasis with depth" , Washington Post, August 6, 2010. Accessed April 18, 2012. "The museum, for example, owns the first two submersibles built by John Philip Holland, the Father of the Modern Submarine, and 30 of the rare Colt Paterson firearms (1837–42), the third-largest collection in the world."
Behind Newark and New York, the brewing industry was booming in Paterson in the late 1800s. Braun Brewery, Sprattler & Mennell, Graham Brewery, The Katz Brothers, and Burton Brewery merged in 1890 to form Paterson Consolidated Brewing Company. Hinchliffe Brewing and Malting Company, founded in 1861, produced 75,000 barrels a year from its state-of-the-art facility at 63 Governor Street. All the breweries closed during Prohibition.Hinchliffe Brewery , City of Paterson. Accessed July 26, 2023. "The brewing industry in Paterson was soon thereafter crippled and dissolved by the Temperance movement and prohibition era of the 1920-30s."
The city was a mecca for immigrant laborers, who worked in its factories, particularly Italian weavers from the Piedmont and Naples regions. Paterson was the site of historic labor unrest that focused on the six-month-long Paterson silk strike of 1913 led by Luigi Galleani and Carlo Tresca that demanded the eight-hour day and better working conditions. It was defeated, with workers returning at the end of the strike without having negotiated any changes.Worth-Baker, Marcia. "Striking Out: Paterson’s Famous Labor Dispute" , New Jersey Monthly, January 17, 2013. Accessed July 26, 2023. "The workers’ key demands: an eight-hour day and improved working conditions, including a return to the two-loom system.... One by one, the silk mills began to spin again without significant concessions from the owners. In the end, Steiger wrote, the strike was 'one of the most bitterly contested and wasteful contests in the history of the industries of this nation.'"
In 1919, Paterson was one of eight locations bombed by self-identified anarchists.Salerno, Salvatore. "Paterson's Italian Anarchist Silk Workers and the Politics of Race by Salvatore Salerno" , libcom.org, February 5, 2011. Accessed November 28, 2011.
Post–World War II era During World War II, Paterson played an important part in the aircraft engine industry. By the end of the war, however, urban areas were in decline; Paterson was no exception. Beginning in the late 1960s, the city suffered high unemployment rates and white flight.Hirsch, James S. Hurricane: The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter, p. 8. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2000. . Accessed March 9, 2025. "At the time of Rubin Carter's arrest in 1966, his hometown of Paterson, New Jersey, was dominated by Mayor Frank X. Graves.... Faced with white flight and fears of rising crime rates, he launched a law-and-order crusade with a hard-edged moralism."
According to the New Jersey Historical Commission, Paterson's industrialism ended “as the economy and technological needs of the United States changed. By 1983, Paterson was the fifth poorest city in the United States. The town that had called itself Silk City, the Iron City, and the Cotton City, was in economic ruin”. Once millwork and production left the city, Paterson's poverty became reminiscent of what occurred in the towns surrounding the Appalachian Mountains once the coal mining industry ended. In 2020, 25.2% of Paterson residents lived in poverty.
Competition from malls in upscale neighboring towns like Wayne and Paramus forced large chain stores out of Paterson's downtown. With the decline of the city's industrial base, small businesses became the city's most prominent businesses. But the city still attracts many immigrants, who have revived its economy, especially through small businesses.Get to Know Paterson , Merchants & Businesses of Downtown Paterson. Accessed August 16, 2012. "Today, the city's growth and economy has been boosted by immigrants who still migrate to Paterson for the small business opportunities."