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Passaic Vicinage Offers Tours of Museum, Falls

By June Zieder
Ombudsman
Passaic Vicinage

A new and exciting adventure for jurors has begun in Passaic Vicinage.

Every Wednesday during lunch hour, Passaic County residents who are serving on jury duty can visit the Paterson Museum and to the new Great Falls National Historical Park. Jurors are transported to both locations by bus.

Trips to the Paterson Museum begin with a guided tour conducted by one of the museum curators. 

Jurors are taken back in time when Paterson was famous for its silk industry and when The Wright Aeronautical Corporation, Colt Revolvers, John Holland Submarines and the city’s most beloved citizen, comedian Lou Costello, all made their homes there.

There are many photographs showing Paterson’s evolution from the mid-19th century to the present. 

Following the trip to the museum, jurors take a short ride to the magnificent Paterson Falls, where they can walk a path that leads to a bridge overlooking the falls.

After jurors view the falls, they return to the courthouse to begin their afternoon court sessions. 

Comments from jurors have ranged from nostalgic accounts of their childhoods in Paterson to questions such as, “Shat are we doing tomorrow afternoon?” 

“We are pleased to be able to offer this program, as the jurors perform such a valuable service to our Judiciary,” Trial Court Administrator Kirk L. Nixon said.

Assignment Judge Donald J. Volkert Jr. came up with the idea for the tours to show the vicinage’s appreciation to its jurors.     

The tours are a collaborative effort between Passaic Vicinage, the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department and the Paterson Museum.