ASHLAND — There wasn’t much going on historically around the world on Saturday, April 25, 1891. But it became a very significant date in Ashland’s history when the sun set at 7:19 p.m.
At that moment in time, Ashland’s first electric street lamps were lit.
The electric street lamp was invented by Charles F. Brush of Cleveland, Ohio who coined them as “Brush Lights.” They were first used in 1880 in Wabash, Indiana, where the city council there agreed to test them.
Gradually electric lamps took hold and eventually replaced the gas lamps that often had to be lit by hand.
The new electric street lights seemingly made Ashland’s Business District bright as day. They offered more safety and security to those who walked though the city at night and freed up a hand for those who may have previously carried a lantern in the dark.
One slight and unexpected problem was noticed though. Swarms of insects loved the warmth of the bulbs. They flew around in such numbers that they blocked the light coming from the lamps. The problem grew so fast that crews had to clean up the bugs in the morning.
The lights were also referred to as “bright whites.” But in 1963, Ashland replaced them with more energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs.
The Ashland County Historical Society museum is not only proud to display a couple of these old electric street lights but we also use them as functional lighting on our campus today.
