Legally, Passaic was formed as an unincorporated village within Acquackanonk Township (now Clifton) on March 10, 1869. It was then incorporated as an independent village on March 21, 1871. Passaic was chartered as a city on April 2, 1873. Okonite company owned an industrial site here from 1878 to 1993. It was the company's headquarters and primary manufacturing plant for most of the company's history. Early uses of the company's insulated wires include some of the earliest telegraph cables, and the wiring for Thomas Edison's first generating plant, Pearl Street Station in Lower Manhattan. The property was then turned into a furniture factory, whose owners redeveloped into an upscale mall, Contempo Plaza, in 2015.