Paterson, New Jersey

Paterson is the largest city in and the county seat of Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city was the state's third-most-populous municipality, with a population of 159,732, an increase of 13,533 (+9.3%) from the 2010 census count of 146,199

Paterson has been known as the Silk City for its once-dominant role in silk production during the latter half of the 19th century. It has since evolved into a major destination for Hispanic immigrants as well as for immigrants from Turkey, the Arab world, and South Asia. Paterson has the nation's second-largest per capita Muslim population. In 1791, Alexander Hamilton (1755/57–1804), first United States Secretary of the Treasury, helped found the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures (S.U.M.), which helped encourage the harnessing of energy from the Great Falls of the Passaic River to secure economic independence from British manufacturers. The society founded Paterson, which became the cradle of the industrial revolution in America.