{"id":3910,"date":"2026-09-20T19:56:45","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T23:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/patersonhistory.com\/?page_id=3910"},"modified":"2026-09-20T19:56:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T23:56:47","slug":"the-raceway-system-today","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/patersonhistory.com\/index.php\/the-raceway-system-today\/","title":{"rendered":"The Raceway System Today"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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More than two centuries after the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures began developing Paterson’s waterpower system, the raceways remain one of the city’s most important surviving industrial resources<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The raceways no longer serve the factories in the way they did during Paterson’s industrial heyday. Instead, they survive as historic engineering structures that help explain how the Great Falls powered the development of the city.<\/p>\n

Today, the raceway system is part of the historic landscape of Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park<\/strong> and the Great Falls\/S.U.M. National Historic Landmark District. The National Park Service identifies the Upper, Middle and Lower Raceways, gatehouses, wheelhouses, spillways, outfalls and associated archaeological resources as an integrated historic system.<\/p>\n

From Industrial Power to Historic Landmark<\/h2>\n

The raceways were originally working infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Beginning in the 1790s, they diverted water from the Passaic River and delivered it to factories throughout Paterson’s industrial district. The system was expanded and modified over generations, eventually creating a three-level network consisting principally of the Upper, Middle and Lower Raceways<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

By the twentieth century, steam and electricity had largely replaced direct waterpower for manufacturing.<\/p>\n

The raceways nevertheless survived.<\/p>\n

Their importance changed from providing mechanical energy to providing historical evidence<\/strong> of how Paterson became an industrial city.<\/p>\n

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The Upper Raceway Today<\/h1>\n

The Upper Raceway<\/strong> is among the most accessible portions of the historic system.<\/p>\n

A portion has been rehabilitated, and a pedestrian path follows the raceway. The Upper Raceway Park provides visitors with an opportunity to walk alongside the historic channel and understand the relationship between the waterway and the surrounding industrial landscape.<\/p>\n

The Upper Raceway follows the contour of the hillside before dropping toward the Middle Raceway. A historic spillway connects the two levels near the Ivanhoe Wheelhouse<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This makes the Upper Raceway particularly useful for interpreting the basic principle of Paterson’s waterpower system:<\/p>\n

High water \u2192 controlled descent \u2192 mechanical power \u2192 lower raceway<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Middle and Lower Raceways<\/h1>\n

The Middle and Lower Raceways<\/strong> remain important surviving components of the historic system, although their present condition differs from the Upper Raceway.<\/p>\n

The National Park Service reports that the middle and lower raceways are generally dry and do not have the same formal pedestrian infrastructure found alongside portions of the Upper Raceway.<\/p>\n

Their importance, however, is not diminished by the absence of regular water flow.<\/p>\n

They preserve evidence of the system’s original three-level design and its relationship to the factories that once depended upon it.<\/p>\n

The Lower Raceway<\/strong>, constructed in 1807, represents one of the major stages in the expansion of Paterson’s waterpower network.<\/p>\n

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The Raceways and the Great Falls<\/h1>\n

The raceways must be understood together with the Great Falls and Passaic River<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Falls provided the natural drop in elevation.<\/p>\n

The raceways allowed engineers to control and distribute that energy.<\/p>\n

The mills converted the energy into mechanical power.<\/p>\n

The relationship can be summarized:<\/p>\n

Passaic River<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2193<\/p>\n

Dam<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2193<\/p>\n

Upper Raceway<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2193<\/p>\n

Mill \/ Wheelhouse<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2193<\/p>\n

Middle Raceway<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2193<\/p>\n

Mill \/ Wheelhouse<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2193<\/p>\n

Lower Raceway<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2193<\/p>\n

Passaic River<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is why the National Park Service considers the raceway system particularly significant: it allows visitors to understand a historic hydropower system from its source through its transformation into industrial power.<\/p>\n

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Historic Wheelhouses Still Survive<\/h1>\n

Several structures associated with the raceway system survive.<\/p>\n

One particularly important example is the Ivanhoe Mill Wheelhouse<\/strong>, located on the Upper Raceway.<\/p>\n

The New Jersey Historic Preservation Office identifies it as the last surviving structure of the original Ivanhoe Paper Company complex. The building was converted to a hydroelectric plant after the S.U.M. acquired the site in 1914 and continued to be used for that purpose until 1946.<\/p>\n

The wheelhouse demonstrates an important transition in Paterson’s history.<\/p>\n

The technology changed from:<\/p>\n

Water \u2192 Mechanical Power<\/strong><\/p>\n

to:<\/p>\n

Water \u2192 Electricity<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Great Falls therefore continued to provide useful energy even after the traditional mill system had begun to disappear.<\/p>\n

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Waterpower Still Exists<\/h1>\n

The story of waterpower in Paterson did not end when the old mills stopped using the raceways.<\/p>\n

The Great Falls continues to be associated with hydroelectric power generation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The National Park Service notes that the Falls still provide power today, demonstrating the continuing importance of the Passaic River as an energy resource.<\/p>\n

The modern technology is different from the nineteenth-century system, but the fundamental idea remains remarkably similar:<\/p>\n

Use the elevation and movement of the Passaic River to produce useful energy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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A System That Is Still Being Preserved<\/h1>\n

The raceways face significant preservation challenges.<\/p>\n

The National Park Service reports that conditions vary throughout the system. Many spillway and raceway features require continued preservation attention, while portions of the system experience problems involving debris, invasive vegetation, water management and deterioration.<\/p>\n

Water itself presents a complicated preservation problem.<\/p>\n

The raceways were designed to carry water, but uncontrolled water infiltration can damage adjacent historic structures.<\/p>\n

Flooding also affects portions of the raceway system and surrounding historic landscape.<\/p>\n

Preserving the raceways therefore requires balancing two objectives:<\/p>\n

Protect the historic structure<\/strong><\/p>\n

while also<\/p>\n

managing the water that originally made the structure useful.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Raceway System as an Archaeological Resource<\/h1>\n

Not everything associated with the raceways remains visible.<\/p>\n

Some portions have been altered, buried or incorporated into later development.<\/p>\n

Archaeological evidence can reveal the location of former:<\/p>\n