Pearl Street Lights Up: The Electric Age Dawns
Thomas Edison switched on the Pearl Street Station in lower Manhattan at 3:00 p.m. on September 4, 1882, delivering direct current electricity to 85 customers through a network of underground copper wires. The station powered 400 lamps spread across a one-square-mile area, including the offices of the New York Times and J.P. Morgan's home. Edison had spent three years building the entire system from scratch: the generator, the wiring, the meters, even the light bulbs. The station burned coal to drive six "Jumbo" dynamos, each weighing 27 tons. This was the first investor-owned electric utility in the world. Within two years, Edison had built similar stations in several American cities and in London, launching the electrification of urban civilization.
September 4, 1882
144 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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