[Passaic Falls, Patterson, New Jersey]

Images of natural landmarks were also part of the North American views published by the Detroit Photographic Company. When New York was the nation’s capital, Alexander Hamilton picked Patterson as a site for an industrial city in 1792 based on the Passaic Falls 77-foot drop which held great potential for powering textile production. By the 1880s, Patterson mills produced almost half of all silk made in the U.S.