An historic treasure of Edison’s electric cars from the 1900-1914 period are awaiting restoration in the Edison garage. Check out this article, and suggested levels of giving below. Be a part of this restoration!
It was built in 1908, and to this day houses one of the earliest electric vehicle charging stations….testimony to Edison’s vision about the importance of electric vehicles and the ability to charge them at one’s residence. Energy savvy folks and writers opine today about electric vehicles being charged in one’s own garage, while Edison was doing it every day … four generations ago. The Edison garage remains home to a variety of the great inventor’s personal cars as well as his wife’s vehicles. This stately structure is on the grounds of his historic home Glenmont.
Front view of garage
Mina Edison’s Personal Electric Vehicle
The Edison Innovation Foundation is busy developing plans to conserve this structure; and inaugurate a new education center for teachers and students on the second floor where visitors will learn about Mr. Edison, the Glenmont site, electric vehicles, practice STEM principles, do special design/invention challenges, and delve into the use and application of alternate energy technologies. The first floor of the structure can hold six vehicles. Special features of its construction include poured concrete walls, a vehicle turntable, a revolving overhead washing system with hose, a battery charging station and a gasoline pump. The second floor of the building once housed the Edison family live-in chauffer and his family.
Edison Battery charging station
Famous Edison Nickel-Iron Storage Batteries
Today, the building houses a:
- 1908 Locomobile
- 1911 Detroit Electric Model L-1
- 1914 Detroit Electric Model 47
- 1922 Ford Model T
- 1936 Brewster (once belonged to Edison’s son- former. Gov. of NJ 1941-44)
These cars will be conserved, as well as the interior of the garage itself which will be cleaned and re-painted.
Ford Model T, a gift from Henry Ford
1936 Brewster, vehicle owned by Charles Edison
To show the immense advances in electric vehicles since Edison’s pioneering work, several new state-of-the-art electric vehicles will be obtained and displayed near the original vehicles; and have their own re-charging station. These vehicles will be used for transportation duties, visitor demonstrations, and educational purposes within the Thomas Edison National Historical Park [TENHP], which includes the Glenmont estate and garage.
Readers are encouraged to make a donation to underwrite this projected $2.5 million historic restoration effort-see suggested levels of giving below. We hope you will contribute to making this restoration project a success. Use the “Donate” button on this page, or directly contact the:
Edison Innovation Foundation
Riverfront Plaza
1037 Raymond Blvd.
STE #340
Newark, NJ 07102
973-648-0500
We thank you on behalf of the 70,000 visitors who come every year to see the home of the world’s greatest inventor.
“Just because something doesn’t do what you planned it to do doesn’t mean it’s useless.”
Time ® is a registered trademark of Time Inc.
Garage Restoration – Suggested Levels of Giving
Level 1: $1 – $999
- Recognition of gift on website.
- Commemorative “Thank You” letter.
Level 2: $1000 – $9999
- Photograph of Donor with any Edison electric vintage car.
- Recognition of gift on appropriate signage at the Edison Garage.
Level 3: $10,000 – $99,999
- Photograph with any Edison electric vintage car.
- Photograph at Edison’s original desk in his Library.
- Your name/organization listed on www.edisonmuckers.org.
- Recognition of gift on appropriate signage at the Edison Garage.
Level 4: $100,000 – $999,999
- Photograph with any Edison electric vintage car.
- Photograph at Edison’s original desk in his Library.
- Your name/organization listed on www.edisonmuckers.org.
- Recognition of gift on appropriate signage at the Edison Garage.
- Cocktail party for ten (10) people chosen by you at the Edison Garage on the Edison home lawn including tent. Drive and display your vintage car.
Level 5: $1 Million and above
- All of the above.
- Naming recognition of the Edison Garage with appropriate signage.
Thomas Edison was famous for giving job applicants a special “practical” test he had composed. Many well-educated “college men” had great difficulty passing this test, as Edison often chided the education system for producing rote memory specialists who had little original thinking power. Various versions of these tests existed over the years, often succumbing to probing newspaper publishers who obtained the tests and printed the answers.
