It's off to Paterson, New Jersey (where I often have to go on business).

The photos are: 1) The Great Falls of the Passaic River, 2) Market St. in downtown Paterson, 3) Rook's Castle on Garrett Mountain, 4) the Paterson skyline at dusk, and 5) the Paterson skyline showing the Passaic River canyon (home of many of the mills that onced fluorished in the city).

Paterson is a city in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city population was 149,222. Census population projections indicate a population of 146,545 as of 2007, making it New Jersey's third largest city. It is the county seat of Passaic County. Paterson is known as the "Silk City" for its dominant role in silk production during the later 19th century.
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. Paterson became part of the newly-created Passaic County on February 7, 1837. Paterson 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.

In 1791, Alexander Hamilton helped found the Society for the Establishment of Useful Manufactures (S.U.M.), which helped encourage the harnessing of energy from the Great Falls of the Passaic, to secure economic independence from British manufacturers. Paterson, which was founded by the society, became the cradle of the industrial revolution in America. Paterson was named for William Paterson, Governor of New Jersey, statesman, and signer of the Constitution. French architect, engineer, and city planner Pierre L'Enfant, who developed the plans for Washington, D.C., was the first superintendent for the S.U.M. project. He devised a plan, which would harness the power of the Great Falls through a channel in the rock and an aqueduct. However, 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. L'Enfant, meanwhile, brought his city plans with him when he designed Washington, and that city's layout resembles the plan he wanted to develop for Paterson.
The industries developed in Paterson were powered by the 77-foot high Great Falls, and a system of water raceways that harnessed the power of the falls. The city began growing around the falls and until 1914 the mills were powered by the waterfalls. 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. In the latter half of the 1800s, silk production became the dominant industry and formed the basis of Paterson's most prosperous period, earning it the nickname "Silk City." In 1835, Samuel Colt began producing firearms in Paterson, although within a few years he 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 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 a former mill near the Passaic Falls.
The city was a mecca for immigrant laborers who worked in its factories as well. Paterson was also the site of historic labor unrest that focused on anti-child labor legislation, and the six-month long Paterson silk strike of 1913 that demanded the eight-hour day and better working conditions, but was defeated by the employers with workers forced to return under pre-strike conditions. Factory workers labored long hours for low wages under dangerous conditions and lived in crowded tenement buildings around the mills. The factories then moved south where there were no labor unions and later overseas.
In 1932, Paterson opened Hinchliffe Stadium, a 9,500-seat stadium named in honor of John V. Hinchliffe, a former Paterson mayor. Hinchliffe originally served as the site for high school and semi-professional athletic events. From 1933–1937, 1939-1945, Hinchliffe was the home of the New York Black Yankees and in 1936 the home of the New York Cubans of the Negro National League. The historic ballpark was also a venue for many professional football games, track and field events, boxing matches and auto/motorcycle racing, including those done by Abbott and Costello. In the 1963, Paterson Public Schools acquired the stadium and used it for public school events until 1997. The Paterson Public Schools neglected the stadium, yet managed to embody a corrupt state of affairs. Currently, Hinchliffe stadium is in a state of disrepair. However, Hinchliffe is one of few Negro League stadiums left standing in the United States. Hinchliffe Stadium is on the National Register of Historic Places.
World War II helped a little, when Paterson played an important part in the aircraft engine industry. By the end of WWII, however, there was a decline in urban areas and Paterson was no exception. Since the 1970s the city has been plagued with high unemployment rates. By 1980, Paterson was one of the most distressed cities in the United States. The city no longer has a single movie theater, its major department stores had closed, and the social indices of despair — childhood AIDS, unemployment, homelessness, illiteracy, and graduation rates — all moved in the wrong direction during the prosperity of the 1990s economic boom. The failing schools have since been taken over by the state.
Once a premier shopping and leisure destination of northern New Jersey, competition from the malls in upscale neighboring towns like Wayne and Paramus have forced the big-chain stores out of Paterson’s downtown. The biggest industries are now small businesses because the factories have moved overseas. However, the city still, as always, attracts many immigrants. Many of these immigrants have revived the city's economy especially through small businesses.
The downtown area was struck by massive fires several times, the most recent of which occurred in 1991. In this fire, a near full city block (bordered on the north and south by Main and Washington Street and on the east and west by Ellison Street and College Boulevard, a stretch of Van Houten Street that is dominated by Passaic County Community College) was engulfed in flames due to an electrical fire in the basement of a bar. The area was so badly damaged that most of the burned buildings were demolished, with an outdoor mall standing in their place. The most notable of the buildings to be destroyed was the Meyer Brothers department store, which was one of the few remaining department stores in the city.

Today's Jumble (9/28/08):

SNEFTA = FASTEN; ABHORR = HARBOR; BELTOG = GOBLET; CASIMO = MOSAIC; TUBECK = BUCKET; FIGYEF = EFFIGY

CIRCLED LETTERS = TNRORGOOAIKTEF

When the countertop salesmanwas paid, he - - -

"TOOK (IT) FOR GRANITE"

Today is National Good Neighbor Day. It is also Ask A Stupid Question Day.

Other things on this day in history:

48 BC - Pompey the Great is assassinated on orders of King Ptolemy of Egypt after landing in Egypt.
351 - Battle of Mursa Major: the Roman Emperor Constantius II defeats the usurper Magnentius.
365 - Roman usurper Procopius bribes two legions passing by Constantinople, and proclaims himself Roman emperor.
935 - Saint Wenceslas is murdered by his brother, Boleslaus I of Bohemia.
995 - Members of Slavník's dynasty - Spytimír, Pobraslav, Pořej and Čáslav are murdered by Boleslaus's son, Boleslaus II the Pious.
1066 - William the Conqueror invades England: the Norman Conquest begins.
1106 - The Battle of Tinchebrai - Henry I of England defeats his brother, Robert Curthose.
1322 - Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor defeats Frederick I of Austria in the Battle of Mühldorf.
1448 - Christian I is crowned king of Denmark.
1542 - Navigator João Rodrigues Cabrilho of Portugal arrives as what is now San Diego, California, United States.
1708 - Peter the Great defeats the Swedes at the Battle of Lesnaya.
1779 - American Revolution: Samuel Huntington is elected President of the Continental Congress, succeeding John Jay.
1781 - American forces backed by a French fleet begin the siege of Yorktown, Virginia, during the American Revolutionary War.
1787 - The newly completed United States Constitution is voted on by the U.S. Congress to be sent to the state legislatures for approval.
1844 - Oscar I of Sweden-Norway is crowned king of Sweden.
1867 - Toronto becomes the capital of Ontario.
1867 - The United States takes control of Midway Island.
1868 - Battle of Alcolea causes Queen Isabella II of Spain to flee to France.
1889 - The first General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) defines the length of a meter as the distance between two lines on a standard bar of an alloy of platinum with ten percent iridium, measured at the melting point of ice.
1891 - Club Atletico Peñarol is founded under the name of Central Uruguay Railway Cricket Club
1907 - Bhagat Singh one of the most influential revolutionaries of Indian independence movement was born in the Khatkar Kalan village near Banga in the Lyallpur district of Punjab.
1928 - UK passes the Dangerous Drugs Act outlawing cannabis.
1928 - Sir Alexander Fleming notices a bacteria-killing mold growing in his laboratory, discovering what later became known as penicillin.
1939 - Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agree on a division of Poland after their invasion during World War II.
1939 - Warsaw surrenders to Nazi Germany during World War II.
1941 - Major League Baseball: Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox finishes the season with a batting average of .406. He is the latest major league player to have a batting average of .400 or better.
1944 - Soviet Army troops liberate Klooga concentration camp in Klooga, Estonia.
1958 - France ratifies a new Constitution of France; the French Fifth Republic is then formed upon the formal adoption of the new constitution on October 4. Guinea rejects the new constitution, voting for independence instead.
1961 - A military coup in Damascus effectively ends the United Arab Republic, the union between Egypt and Syria.
1962 - Paddington tram depot fire destroys 65 trams in Brisbane, Australia.
1971 - UK passes the Misuse of Drugs Act banning the medicinal use of cannabis.
1972 - Canada defeats the USSR in the eigth and final game of the ice hockey Summit Series.
1973 - ITT Building in New York City bombed to protest ITT's involvement in the September 11 1973 coup d'état in Chile.
1975 - The Spaghetti House siege, in which nine people were taken as hostages, takes place in London.
1994 - The car ferry MS Estonia sinks in Baltic Sea, killing 852 people.
1995 - Bob Denard and a group of mercenaries take the islands of Comoros in a coup.
2000 - Al-Aqsa Intifada: Ariel Sharon visits the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.