Ampere, New Jersey [History]

The manufacture of large rotating electrical equipment in North America during the early 20th century was usually associated with the names General Electric and Westinghouse. Lesser known companies also engaged in that business included the Stanley Company of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and the Crocker-Wheeler Company of Ampere, New Jersey. The name "Ampere" was first ap plied by Crocker-Wheeler to a railroad station located in East Orange, New Jersey, just to the west of Newark and about 11 mi (18 km) west of Manhattan (New York City). This station provided for train service to Manhattan via the Lackawanna Railroad (the DL&W) and the Hudson Tubes, today known as the PATH (Port Authority Trans Hudson) trains (see Figure 1). This name, of course, was in honor of Prof. Andre-Marie Ampere (1775 1836) for whom the unit of electric current was named.