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Magical Moment 579, "Great Falls"

Despite living in New Jersey for 2 years, and being married to a National Park Ranger, I just discovered today that we live only a few miles away from a pretty significant National Historical Site. The Great Falls in Paterson, NJ, dates back to the 1700s when Alexander Hamilton and a group of investors, began to look for a way to harness the power of the Passaic Falls. They developed the most significant power system of its time, and today the Great Falls and to this day remain the 2nd largest volume falls on the East Coast.

The rain fall from Hurricane Irene has created a fury of water flow and brought some local and national attention to the site. President Obama even inspected the falls after Irene subsided. 


We could see the water is unusually high.

And sadly, the havoc from the flooding has swept an enormous amount of garbage into the water.

It's a very powerful sight.



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Comments

TexWisGirl said…
except for the garbage, these are phenomenal!!! thank you!
September 7, 2011 at 9:28 PM
Linda at To Behold The Beauty said…
What an awesome waterfall. And I'd never even heard of it before. That last photo is especially gorgeous.
September 7, 2011 at 11:36 PM
Anonymous said…
Ah, I love discovering new places, especially with camera in hand. Cool new header, by the way.
September 8, 2011 at 3:44 AM
Deborah said…
That is breathtaking, I'd love to see it for real!
September 8, 2011 at 6:49 AM
Gary's third pottery blog said…
great set of pics, I didn't know about those falls at all! And I wonder where your husband is a ranger?
September 8, 2011 at 8:49 AM
Kim@stuffcould.... said…
Paterson has been on the news a lot because of floods...Hope you are ok. These pics are beautiful except the garbage and fury of the water
September 8, 2011 at 12:02 PM
Busy Bee Suz said…
All that garbage....ughhh.
More rain today; I sure hope you are both safe and dry!
September 8, 2011 at 7:03 PM
Rick said…
Spectacular, powerful shots !
September 10, 2011 at 1:48 PM
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