City gasIn 1816, the laying of pipes by the Gas Light Company of Balti was approved by the City Council in the first city ordinance of its kind in the U.S. That year, artist and entrepreneur Rembrandt Peale went to England to learn about gas lighting, then displayed his “Ring of Fire” gas-powered light in his Baltimore museum on the corner of Baltimore and Holiday Streets. Peale's successful demonstration of the power and value of gas led to a plan to light the streets of the city, and the first gas company in America was born - the Gas Light Company of Baltimore. The first public gas street light was lit on 7 Feb 1817.[Image: A lamp (from 1920-30's) kept burning on the site that Peale first constructed his in 1817.] |
