Made in Newark, Saved in Sussex: Presentation by Mike Piersa

About this event

Location: 44 Station Road, Sparta, NJ 07871 This presentation will explore the roots of the collection of wooden patterns now at the Sussex County Maker Space. The intricate pieces were used by the Watts, Campbell Company, of Newark, New Jersey to build a variety of products, but primarily Corliss steam engines. A few steam engines built there are still preserved and operating to this day. The factory was established in 1851 and was still doing repair work into the 2000s. Customers ranged from Thomas Edison to Bethlehem Steel and Cuban sugar mills. Portions of the factory still survive along McCarter Highway in Newark, New Jersey and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This illustrated lecture will explore what the wooden patterns did, what the factory produced, and what made it a unique survivor into the 21st Century. It will draw on photographs taken in the factory in the early 2000s, historical records now housed at the Henry Ford, historic trade journals, and personal experience operating a Watts, Campbell Co. engine at the Blue Mountain Antique Gas & Steam Engine Association.