ELECTRIC LIGHT INAUGURATED - THE FIRST TRIAL A DELIGHTFUL SUCCESS
Punctual to the hour, the Edison Incandescent Illuminating Company of this city let loose the illuminating current along their main wires and into the business houses where service wires had been put up. Last evening at 8 o’clock, the unseen current flowed out from the central station and, just as “quick as lightning”, the houses prepared for it were handsomely lighted with a white light, more luminous than the usual coil oil or gas light, and as soft as sunlight. We looked in at White’s where there were 4 lights, Fahnestock’s with 2 lights, Becker’s with 3 lights, Zollinger & Sons’ with 8 lights, Titus with 3 lights, Louis & Son’s with 8 lights, and Flesh & Prugh with 18 lights and saw not only excellent lights, but delighted crowds of men and women attracted to these business rooms by the promised exhibition.
At the Central Station all was ablaze of light from the boiler room to the attic. No gas, no coal oil – only a boiler, a 100 horsepower engine and a dynamo to disengage the electricity (not to make it – no man can make it, but simply to set it free) and the entire building was as light as day. On the wall back of the dynamo was a bank of lamps, 200 in number, which cast a rich flood of light over the machinery, the busy operatives and the hundreds of faces that looked on.
In order to ascertain with what favor the new light is received, we inquired of nearly all who have had it put in and found the unanimous expression: We like it. It is just the thing. It gives a steadier, clearer, softer and better light than gas, our goods show better, and, in every way we are delighted with the light. We may add here that all lamps used were 10-candle lamps and that these will be used until replaced by those of 16-candle power by those who prefer a stronger light.
Reprinted from The Miami Helmet, No 37, Vol 1 Piqua, Ohio, May 1, 1884
- A compilation of Rutgers University's The Thomas Edison Papers pertaining to the Piqua plant from 1883 to 1891. There over 375 digital pages capturing the discussions between various parties, including the Ohio Installation Company, Babcock and Wilcox, Thomas Edison's Construction Department (i.e. Samuel Insull and Thomas Edison), and the Piqua “gentlemen” as Edison referred to the Piqua central station founders. Unfortunately some of the letters are hard to read due to water damage, faded text, and poor penmanship. Overall, the reader should be able to follow the flow of the conversations. The file is large, nearly 118 MB
- The contract signed on 21 Feb 1884 between the Ohio Installation Company and Thomas A. Edison. Though signed on February 21st, it took a month to clarify the legalese regarding the location of the Edison site.
- "The Early History of the Piqua (Ohio) Electric Light Plant" - a good description of the Piqua plant as captured by Mr. John L. Reymiller (1891-1969) through discussions with Herbert Barton Brooks** (1869-1962), the superintendent of the Piqua central station from 1887-1898. For the version provided here, we retyped and augmented the 1939 original with higher quality images (and a few additional) to improve readability, while ensuring that we did not take away from Mr. Reymiller’s original contribution.
- A June 25th 1888 letter from Wilson S. Howell (Edison Electric Illuminating Co. of NY) to Francis R. Upton (one of Edison's main partners) describing the state of affairs at both the Piqua and Middletown Edison Electric Illuminating Companies. By then Piqua was lighting 3,000 lights. The contrast between the two Companies was stark and of some concern to Howell.
Letters, Telegrams & Legal Documents
When we first began our research into the history of the Piqua station, we quickly exhausted the resources at the city library. Locally, there was just limited information available. It wasn't until we connected with Dr. Paul Israel and The Thomas Edison Papers at Rutgers did we move beyond the impasse and really start capturing the events leading to the Piqua grand illumination that occurred on April 30th, 1884. From the integration of local information with the letters, telegrams and legal document from Rutgers, we have been able to get a better handle on the planning, development, and construction of the Piqua Edison Electric Illuminating Company.
The downloads below represent the most current information on the Water Street Central Station. Future discoveries will be posted here as well.
H.B. Brooks had a very interesting life. He was the plant superintendent at eighteen, left the Piqua station to get his bachelors degree at The Ohio State University, and later worked for the National Bureau of Standards in Washington DC. He received his PhD in 1926, and in 1955 was elected the vice-president of the Edison Pioneers. A good summary of his life can be found here.