thomas edison center at menlo park

More over this property is described in three categories in TripAdvisor.. but all three is come under one place may be category in two .. because .. the sign board says Thomas Edison center .. only the museum room and tower is in the area .. there is no separate center ... tower and museum are adjacent.. more over .. the lived house area of Edison is near by ..but only vacant site is there ..one stone is there foe remembrance.. tower work not completed so far.. museum is not that much .. should at least be made better

Menlo Park is a section of Edison, NJ. Edison is of course named for the most famous man of the 20th century, Thomas Edison... (Raritan Township changed its name to Edison in 1954). Thomas Edison lived and worked in Menlo Park from 1876 to 1882, and made many of his breakthroughs and inventions here... before moving to much bigger facilities in West Orange, NJ. On the site of the Menlo Park Thomas Edison Center is where his lab and research facilites stood. He lived just down the street. Christie Street was the first in the world to be lit with electric lights. Considering the historic significance of this location, there really should be more here. (Edison's West Orange lab, facilities, home, and museum are all beautifully restored and open to the public).What there is on this Menlo Park site is just a nice VERY SMALL museum. It has a few good exhibits, and a tour guide tells the story of Edison's earlier years. It is good, but there should be much more. You can easily go through the whole exhibit in about 20 minutes. There are no original buildings (or even reconstructed ones). There is a scale model of the original building (made from materials from the original structure). The whole museum is about the size of the gift shop of a larger museum. The tour guide was interesting and informative, and tried hard to tell the story with what they had there. It was ok, but a little disappointing. Next door is the Edison Tower, a beautiful art deco style tower (131 feet tall), finished in 1938, topped with the world's biggest light bulb. However, this tower had fallen into disrepair, and is currently closed and is being renovated. It has been closed for a few years already and does not look close to being done. It is currently fenced off and scaffolded and partially covered. You can see, from a distance, how impressive it once was... and will be again when it is done. Considering that the town is named EDISON, and the undenialable historic significance of the site, I was really expecting more. Thomas Edison deserves more. The West Orange Edison site is incredible and should not be missed (please see my review). I am not saying to skip the Menlo Park site, but only go here for completeness if you have the time. It is worth a visit, but if you are only going to one Edison site, it is absolutely no contest, you must go to West Orange. I would go back to Menlo Park only when the tower reopens... that would be worth seeing.

We visited the small facility and were disappointed. The tour guide was very good, but had little to work with. We took two grandchildren and there just were not enough things to interest them. The whole facility is probably around 1000 sq feet and with a fairly large tour group, it didn't work. It didn't help that almost everything was "don't touch."

The food and service was impeccable tasty and priced right the service was kind and helpful with recommendations. So much to choose from couldn't make up my mind. I watched as many orders went out.. I wanted everything. Please if you have a chance stop in.. Lots of food great prices

After years of putting it off we finally drove over to it. Everything is closed and the tall tower is covered in stuff. There was no sign as to when it would open. My rating is a guess, since there was nothing to see but construction stuff.

This place is tiny, but well curated and the director and folks there are passionate and well-educated on their subject. A $5 per person donation is suggested. It was very interesting and educational. We'll go back the next time we're in the area. It's obviously a hidden gem.

Worlds biggest light bulb or something like that......this man changed the world as we know it and this is where it did it. They have let it decay a little but it is in the midst of what looks to be a major rehab......truely a historical spot on the planet !!!

Very small museum, but very interesting there you learn and see the first bulb light, the first fonograf and others investions made by Edison.

This is a great place for families because there are lots of Edison's inventions to see. If the docent is in the mood, you can also hear Edison's first record - a wax cylinder - being played. Outside, there's a short walk and you can look up to the high tower with a huge light bulb on top that is lit each night and can be seen for miles.

My 3rd grade son has been studying inventors in school, so on a recent trip to the East coast we decided to go to the Edison Museum. Our first mistake was not understanding there are TWO "Edison Museums"! The first laboratory Edison built was at this location in 1876. His home and lab have long since been demolished, but in 1938 a tower was built and dedicated on the inventor's 91st birthday. The 131-foot tall tower is at the exact spot where the Menlo Park laboratory was located. This lab is where he developed the electric light system and invented the first phonograph. It is located on Christie Street, which is the first street to be wired and illuminated by incandescent lightbulbs. However, Edison only stayed here for 10 years before building a much larger laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, where Edison worked until his death in 1931. His lab and home in West Orange are now Thomas Edison National Historical Park. This is a much larger museum, and the one we thought we were actually going to.Although we were disappointed to realize our mistake, it was actually a fun visit. The guides running the museum were very friendly, and extremely knowledgable. They are volunteers who take the history very seriously and seem to really enjoy educating their visitors. My son was amazed as they showed him the working phonographs and original style light bulbs. And it was neat to be on the street where it all started for Edison.

Happened uponthis monument nearby the Amtrak Station in Islelin, it is currently fitted up with scaffolding, I did not see any notice on a reopening date. This was mid December 2012.

Very small museum with a voluntary $5 donation.Museum docents show the visitor Edison's inventions. They well explain how his machines from more than a hundred years ago impact us on a daily and hourly bases.