The Electrification of Detroit

[Bluenote132003]

I recently finished reading "The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America [Paperback] Erik Larson [[Author)".

The book had a lot of information on some of the first wide spread uses of electricity in the nation. The Chicago World's Fair may have been the turning point of using AC vs DC on a large scale basis. Detroit was famous for our Moonlight Towers and electric buses. You can't find a Shorpy picture that doesn't have dozens of crisscrossed electrical lines running everywhere. Some of the electrical poles had near 20 crosspieces!

Feel free to share any old photographs, anecdotes, or arcane knowledge you may have of the early Electrification of Detroit!

[detroittrader]

I recently finished reading "The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America [Paperback]Erik Larson [[Author)".

The book had a lot of information on some of the first wide spread uses of electricity in the nation. The Chicago World's Fair may have been the turning point of using AC vs DC on a large scale basis. Detroit was famous for our Moonlight Towers and electric buses. You can't find a Shorpy picture that doesn't have dozens of crisscrossed electrical lines running everywhere. Some of the electrical poles had near 20 crosspieces!

Feel free to share any old photographs, anectdotes, or arcane knowlege you may have of the early Electrification of Detroit!

The Devil in the White City is a great book, I would recommend to anyone on DYes, especially fans of Architecture...and creepy mass murder stories.

[jiminnm]

I concur. I'd also recommend another Larson book, Thunderstruck, that ties together Marconi and development of the wireless radio with Hawley Crippen, a murderer from Coldwater Michigan.

[MikeM]

"Kilowatts at Work" by Raymond Miller is a detailed but tedious early history [[up through the mid-1950s) of the Detroit Edison Company and the development of the electric infrastructure of the area. He wrote a follow up book, "The Force of Energy" in the 1970s, and it's easier to read. Both concentrate more on the business end of the utility but they have some good technical information as well.

[Mikeg]

Here is a web page with some photos of the exteriors of several different Detroit Edison power plants. The photos were taken between about 1920 and 1970. The page also includes a brief history of the Connors Creek power plant.

The Connors Creek history closes with a quote from the aforementioned Raymond Miller:

There is a mystery and excitement about the power plant. The cathedral-like vistas, the awesome might and majesty of the flaming furnace, and above all, the turbine generator room, where almost unbelievable power is marshaled in dramatic orderliness. It is easy to be romantic about a power plant.

As a degreed mechanical and industrial engineer, I readily concur with that last sentiment.

[Hamtragedy]

The Willis Power Station, still located at the corner of Woodward & Willis, created DC power for the streetcars

Devil in the White City also chronicles landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead [[as we know, of Belle Isle and Central Park fame), in one of his last projects, as one of the masters behind the spectacle that became the Columbian Exposition of 1893.

Also famous from the 1893 World's Fair: The Blue Ribbon awarded to Pabst. [[it says so on the can)

That book should be made into a movie, I'm surprised it already hasn't.

[Bluenote132003]

From DTE Energy's site:
Detroit Edison History

The Early Years
In the 1800s, candles or small lamps that burned lard or whale oil lighted the homes and public streets of Detroit. By the middle of the century, whale oil and candles gave way to kerosene lamps, and shortly after, a thriving gas lighting business developed in the city.
In 1879, Thomas Alva Edison invented the incandescent lamp, and in 1883, the incandescent light bulb made its first Detroit appearance at Metcalf Brothers dry goods store. Soon other merchants in the city's central business district started demanding light bulbs of their own. And, although no one knew it at the time, the roots of Detroit Edison began to form.
In 1886, the Edison Illuminating Co. of Detroit was organized and began serving its first customers. By 1892, the company's customer base had grown to 550, with many of its customers involved in the production of railroad cars, ship engines and cast-iron stoves. In that pre-automobile industry era, Henry Ford worked for Edison Illuminating, first as a night fireman and engineer at $40 a month and later as chief engineer at $100 a month
By the turn of the century, the Edison Illuminating Co. and the Peninsular Electric Light Co. [[which owned the electric distribution franchise in the area) provided all commercial electric lighting and power in the city of Detroit. In January 1903, Detroit Edison purchased securities of the two companies and incorporated on Jan. 17, 1903. That same year, construction began on the Delray 1 power plant, and Henry Ford, who had left Edison Illuminating four years earlier, founded Ford Motor Co.

Auto Industry Fuels Growth
Over the next two decades, the automotive boom fueled the economic and social growth of Southeastern Michigan. In 1904, Detroit Edison signed its first power contract with an automobile company - the Cadillac Motor Car Co. That year, 9,125 cars and trucks were produced in Michigan.
There was debate within Detroit Edison about whether the automobile was a fad, and if gearing up for the auto industry would strand the company with excess capacity. But the company correctly anticipated greater use of motors and electric power in factories, and the Delray 2 power plant was added in 1908. In 1915, in spite of the intrusion of World War I, the Conners Creek power plant was completed. That same year, 442,982 cars and trucks - 78 percent of America's total vehicle production - were made in Southeastern Michigan.
By 1920, Detroit was booming and its growing population stretched up and down the Detroit River. Between 1924 and 1929, Detroit Edison increased its production capacity by building the Marysville, Trenton Channel and Delray 3 power plants. It also added the Beacon and Boulevard heating plants to support the skyscraper boom in downtown Detroit.

New Uses for Electricity
Detroit Edison’s engineering research department invented electric devices and worked hand-in-hand with the sales department to create demand for them. The company developed and marketed the electric oven to customers, and electric service spread to rural areas. Detroit Edison was also one of the first companies to promote the use of electric billboards for outdoor advertising.
During World War II, automakers converted their plants to support the military efforts. As the "Arsenal of Democracy," Detroit and other Michigan cities produced 92 percent of the vehicles, 87 percent of the aircraft bombs, 75 percent of the aircraft engines, and 56 percent of the tanks used by American military forces. The strain on utilities to keep up with the war effort was felt nationwide.
After the war, the housing-construction boom and desire for new consumer goods brought a new wave of optimism. Demand for electricity doubled in the 1950s. Detroit Edison added the St. Clair power plant in 1954 – one of the largest power plant in the world at the time.
In 1956, Detroit Edison broke ground for the Enrico Fermi atomic power plant – the world's first experimental liquid-metal-cooled fast-breeder reactor. That same year, the River Rouge power plant was also started. River Rouge Units 1 and 2 – at 260 megawatts each – were the world's largest when they were commissioned.
But would "largest" be enough? A 1970 study commissioned by Detroit Edison Chairman Walker Cisler suggested that Detroit would continue to be at the center of tremendous growth in the U.S. The 400-page study called for orderly future development in alleviating the Detroit area's existing and growing environmental and social challenges, and Cisler made the study available "for the use by all concerned with making a better tomorrow."

[Bluenote132003]

And since we're so close to Christmas:
A Few Facts About The Origin Of Electric Christmas Lights

12-23-03 -- Although they did not become popular until after World War II [[thanks to the extension of electrification throughout rural America in the 1940s), electric Christmas lights have a long history. And, like so much else in the history of electricity, it all began with Thomas Edison.First, a disclaimer: A persistent legend credits Ralph Morris as the inventor of electric Christmas lights. The story goes that Ralph, seeing his son push a candle over on a Christmas tree, nearly set the tree on fire and ended up singeing his hair. Ralph came up with the idea of pulling the lights from an old telephone switchboard and wiring them on a tree, and thusly "inventing" the electric Christmas tree lights. This incident is actually true, but it happened in 1908 -- more than a quarter century after a close associate of Edison’s actually did the inventing.What really happened: It all began in 1882 -- just three after the incandescent bulb was invented -- when Edward Johnson, Thomas Edison’s friend and partner in the Edison Illumination Company in New York City, hand-wired 80 “patriotic” red, white and blue bulbs and wound them around a rotating evergreen tree in his home. The New York press was invited to come over and take a look but, sensing a publicity stunt, refused. However, the event was covered by a reporter from the Detroit Post and Tribune, and he’s what he said:

"Last evening I walked over beyond Fifth Avenue and called at the residence of Edward H. Johnson, vice-president of Edison´s electric company. There, at the rear of the beautiful parlors, was a large Christmas tree presenting a most picturesque and uncanny aspect. It was brilliantly lighted with many colored globes about as large as an English walnut and was turning some six times a minute on a little pine box. There were eighty lights in all encased in these dainty glass eggs, and about equally divided between white, red and blue. As the tree turned, the colors alternated, all the lamps going out and being relit at every revolution. The result was a continuous twinkling of dancing colors, red, white, blue, white, red, blue -- all evening. I need not tell you that the scintillating evergreen was a pretty sight -- one can hardly imagine anything prettier. The ceiling was crossed obliquely with two wires on which hung 28 more of the tiny lights; and all the lights and the fantastic tree itself with its starry fruit were kept going by the slight electric current brought from the main office on a filmy wire. The tree was kept revolving by a little hidden crank below the floor which was turned by electricity. It was a superb exhibition."

Despite the report in the Detroit paper, however, few Americans heard of electric Christmas lights -- until 1895, when President Grover Cleveland commissioned a White House tree lighted with Edison bulbs. It was a huge specimen, featuring more than a hundred multicolored lights.Finally, the general public was taking notice, and it was not long afterward that members of "high society" were hosting Christmas Tree parties. They were grand events indeed, as a typical lighted tree of the early 1900s cost upwards of $300 [[more than $2000 in today’s dollars), including the generator and wireman´s services.Still out of range for the average American family, smaller and less expensive battery-operated lighting strings were decorating the trees of those adventurous enough to do the wiring. In fact, an article in Popular Electricity Magazine explained how to light the family tree with battery-powered electric lights. The back pages had instructions on ordering the necessary wire, sockets and light bulbs. General Electric even offered miniature light bulbs for rent in some cities, as an alternative to an outright purchase of the expensive lamps.But electric tree lighting was not to be truly practical until the General Electric Company came to the rescue in 1903. That year, GE offered a pre-assembled lighting outfit for the first time. Still quite expensive at $12 [[the total weekly wage for an average worker then and the equivalent of about $80 today), many department stores in the larger, electrified cities would rent outfits for the season for $1.50. Called a "festoon,” the outfit consisted of eight green pre-wired porcelain sockets, eight Edison miniature base colored glass lamps, and a handy screw-in plug for easy attachment to a nearby wall or ceiling light socket. However, GE was unable to patent their string [[or festoon), and suddenly the market was open to anyone who wanted to manufacture the strings.More About Electric Christmas Tree LightsThe person responsible for popularizing Christmas tree lighting is Albert Sadacca. A tragic fire in New York City in 1917, caused by the continuing practice of lighting the highly flammable tree with candles, gave 15-year-old Albert Sadacca an idea. Now it just so happened that Albert’s family, who had come from Spain, had a novelty business selling wicker cages with imitation birds in them that lit up.Albert suggested to his parents that they begin making electric lights for Christmas trees. They had lots of bulbs on hand, and it would be much safer than using candles. The Sadaccas thought Albert had a good idea, but only one hundred strings of electric Christmas tree lights sold in the first year. After Albert thought of painting the bulbs red, green, and other colors instead of using plain glass, business picked up sharply.Albert became the head of a multi-million dollar company. The company started by Albert Sadacca and his two brothers, Henri and Leon was NOMA Electric Company the largest Christmas lighting company in the world for all of the years of its operation prior to 1965.Since public distribution of electricity was not yet common in the early years of the 20th century, those living outside of a major city who desired one of those wonderful illminated trees had to supply their own electric power, typically from household generators. In addition, the services of a "wireman" had to be obtained, as few people were willing or even able to undertake the job of hand wiring all of the lights on the tree themselves. Electric socket outfits had not been invented, and it was a tedious task at best to wire all of the lights necessary to illuminate a room-sized tree.The earliest Christmas lighting outfits used screw-in current taps. In the beginning of the century, American homes wired for electricity were wired for lighting circuits only, and usually only a single light bulb socket was provided for each room. Any additional electrical devices had to be powered from the ceiling outlet. As electricity became more popular, wall lighting as well as ceiling lighting became popular, and suddenly lighting the family Christmas tree with electricity was a bit easier.In fact, the bladed wall plug that we are familiar with today was actually a development of a device that was originally used to facilitate the interconnection of stings or festoons of Christmas lights. Some prototypes of this device were in use as early as 1917, and it was patented as the “Tachon” connector in 1924. The 1924 Tachon started out as a screw-in type of connector with a safety cover but soon evolved into the two parallel blade type.A Few More Miscellaneous Historical Facts• Many of the earliest Christmas lights burned so hot that they were about as dangerous as the candles they were advertised to replace.• Many of the earliest figural light bulbs representing fruit, flowers and holiday figures were blown in molds that were also used to make small glass ornaments. These figural lights were painted by toy makers.• Most figural Christmas lights were made out of milk glass for a specific reason. The paint used on the lights did not adhere well to glass, and as the lights were turned on and off, the constant expansion and contraction of the glass helped the paint to flake off even faster. It was discovered that milk glass looks better than clear glass when the lights have flaking paint, so the industry quickly and almost exclusively switched over to the use of the white milk glass by the late 1920s.• It was a common but incorrect belief in the early days of electric Christmas lighting that Christmas light bulbs would burn longer in an upright position. Early decorators spent a lot of time making sure that the lamps were positioned upright on the tree.• True outdoor Christmas lights were not introduced to the public until 1927-- almost 45 years after the first electric tree lights were demonstrated. There were sets offered for sale as safe to use outside before 1927, but they were small, dangerous and extremely impractical for the average family.

[gnome]

Cool finds Bluenote, I didn't know that the bladed wall plug was,

actually a development of a device that was originally used to facilitate the interconnection of stings or festoons of Christmas lights

.

This is a family story about the electrifying rural Michigan.

Mom was born out in New Hudson before electricity was brought to farms. The custom at the time was to string power lines in a daisy-chain from farm to farm. Not every farmer was a big fan of giving easements to power companies and they were skeptical of electric fires and also of frying their animals.

Power poles rotted, lines were hung in trees and on to trees ... safety concerns were low down on the priority list.

The men folk were sticks in the mud, but the power companies knew that women were the ones that really controlled the house. Any house. Power companies offered the lady of the house their choice of a free refrigerator or washing machine in exchange for an easement.

Grandma took the washer.

[p69rrh51]

Just before the 7 sisters were razed I chatted with an engineer from the demolition company. He had pictures of a black tie dinner party held in one of the boilers before they capped the boiler. Was nice to see a good friend's great grandfather who was one of the founders as well as the other local luminaries.

[MikeM]

I ran across this picture recently, of the "new" Linwood substation, across from Central High. The year is 1924 and typical of the time, utility companies put some effort into keeping their infrastructure looking handsome.

This is the new automatic substation at Linwood and Collingwood Avenues which went into commission on September 6th, 1924. The architectural design is such that it harmonizes with the surroundings in a residence section. The large oak timbers used in the construction were taken from a barn near Mt. Clemens and are said to be about 100 years old.

Still hanging in there:

[Kathleen]

Your mention of Larsen's Devil in a White Dress reminded me of a similar novel City of Light by Lauren Belfer [[New York: The Dial Press, 1999). Belfer's novel is a similar treatment of the electrification of Buffalo, NY and Niagara Falls, with the 1901 Pan-American Exposition and assassination of President McKinley and other historical events and real-life characters of the time and murder and intrigue. Olmstead figures into the story there too!! Fascinating!!

[Crystal]

Dad had an original Edison light bulb. When we were kids he would illuminate it for a few seconds, once a year. Now I have the bulb, wrapped in newspaper and tucked away in a drawer in one of Dad's old cabinets.

Dad really admired Edison and other scientific visionaries, including Eratosthenes, Galileo, and Einstein.

[southofbloor]

Burton EB02e503 shows a moonlight tower standing to the right of City Hall

[southofbloor]

zooming in...

[MikeM]

Dad had an original Edison light bulb. When we were kids he would illuminate it for a few seconds, once a year. Now I have the bulb, wrapped in newspaper and tucked away in a drawer in one of Dad's old cabinets.

Dad really admired Edison and other scientific visionaries, including Eratosthenes, Galileo, and Einstein.

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/28990

[Bluenote132003]

We had a lot of old Edison Style Carbon Filament bulbs lying around at Carter Electric in the early 80's. That place was a museum of old collectibles. Does anyone know if the Forbes family had anything saved from the buildings torn down for Comerica park? I'm sure collectors would love to have some of that stuff...

[southofbloor]

I ran across this picture recently, of the "new" Linwood substation, across from Central High. The year is 1924 and typical of the time, utility companies put some effort into keeping their infrastructure looking handsome.






Still hanging in there:

Great archival pic Mike - I don't usually wish ill on a tree but that's a really nicely composed front facade...

[DetroitPlanner]

please remove, I checked a fact this has no relevance.

[southofbloor]

Another Moonlight Tower, Woodward and Adams.

[gnome]

I do not believe the Moonlight towers were electrified, they were carbon arcs and ran off of acetylene gas.

[Bluenote132003]

Arc lamps were the precursors to the widespread use of the modern electric bulb. In the modern incandescent light bulb, electricity runs through a tiny filament, which glows hot but doesn't manage to burn up because the inside of the bulb lacks the oxygen necessary for combustion. Arc lamps didn't have the filament. They were invented in the mid-eighteen hundreds by Sir Humphry Davy, who connected up a couple of bits of charcoal to a battery and brought them close together to make a circuit. Just before the charcoal bits touched, light jumped between them. It took several more decades of experimenting with bits of carbon [[like the charcoal), electrical set-ups, to produce a useful model.
The most infamous arc light was the Yablochkov candle. Made by Paul Yablachkov, it was cheap and spectacular, because it had a guide wire that first started the arc between the carbon pieces when the lamp was lit. The wire then burned up in the air, leaving the free-flowing arc of electricity behind it. It was a crowd-pleaser, and it anticipated the modern light bulb. The only problem was, it could never be turned off, or the whole thing had to be replaced.
As the 1890s rolled around, arc lamps were finally getting practical. But they needed to be out of the way, far from people's heads — and so cities began putting them on specially-built towers and in the tallest structures in city squares. They lit up several blocks at a time, were called 'artificial sunlight,' and were bright enough that people would set newspapers on the ground and read the headlines standing. In cities that didn't have the capacity to build sky-scrapers which could block out the light, these were the future. They kept the day going into the night, and they made people feel safe.

The very first Moonlight Tower went up in 1881, in San Jose, California - which tried to sue Paris when someone eventually put an arc lamp on the Eiffel Tower. Across the nation, other towns and cities followed suit. Detroit put up 122 towers, which lit 21 square miles of the city bright as day. It was held up to be the best example of a modern city. Other cities wouldn't let that stand, and by the early 1900s hundreds of thousands of lamps stood over American towns, blotting out the stars with constant approximations of daylight. Europe put up arc lamps in towers and on the tops of buildings. This is what the future was going to be like, people thought.

[stromberg2]

Was the light brighter than today's street lights....when they are actually working?

Stromberg2

[Wheels]

Austin Texas bought 31 of Detroit's Moonlight Towers and the still use 17 of them. You can read about it here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonlight_tower

[MikeM]

Yes - way brighter, which was a complaint; they put out a bright white light which contrasted strongly with the shadows it caused, especially in winter.