The Main Gate

From 1887 to 1931, Thomas A. Edison, his laboratory employees, and invited guests entered the laboratory complex through this gate and arch. Guards and a tall picket fence, replaced by a chain-link fence in 1917, prevented sightseers and competitors from wandering the grounds. The wooden gatehouse was added in 1890, three years after Edison built his red-brick laboratory buildings. Behind the gatehouse, Building 1 served as the physics laboratory until 1892, when vibrations from streetcars on Main Street upset the delicate instruments. Ahead, Building 5 housed a stockroom, machine shops, and Edison’s personal library-office.

Montrose, New Jersey · United States