First U.S. public street lightIn 1817, the first public gas street light in the U.S. was lit in Baltimore, Maryland. From Jun 1816, the Gas Light Company of Balti had been laying pipes with the approval of the City Council in the first city ordinance of its kind in the U.S. Earlier in 1816, artist and entrepreneur Rembrandt Peale had learnt about gas lighting by travelling to England. On his return, he 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.[Image: A lamp (from 1920-30's) kept burning on the site that Peale first constructed his in 1817.] |
