It was here that Thomas Edison, known as the Wizard of Menlo Park, invented the phonograph and the incandescent light bulb.

1. Perth Amboy remains the only city in the United States to be incorporated twice, the first time in 1718, and the second time in 1784 following the American Revolution.
2. Perth Amboy is the home of the only intact Royal Governor’s Mansion. Known as the Proprietary House, it was built in 1762-1764. From 1774 to 1776 it was the home of William Franklin, Royal Governor of New Jersey and son of Benjamin Franklin.
3. Evidence suggests that people have been living in the Edison area since prehistoric times. In addition to arrowheads and cooking tools ascribed to Native Americans, skull and bone fragments have been discovered from the Stone Age.
4. In 1954 the people voted to rename Raritan Township because there were so many in the state. They chose to name the township after Thomas Edison, whose work at Menlo Park led to more than 400 patents. There second choice was Lewis Nixon, a resident whose service in World War II was depicted in “Band of Brothers”.