New York History Edition

There was something strange and wonderful happening at 257 Pearl St. in lower Manhattan, the result of which would change the city and the world forever.

New York is always on the cutting edge. Is it any wonder that super inventor Thomas Edison would build a power plant in lower Manhattan that would provide electric light in homes for the first time?

Granted, the idea of electric light was not new, but no one had figured out a practical way to bring it into the home. Gaslights were the ethod of choice.

Incandescent light bulbs were not a new idea either. But the filament melted quickly. Edison’s bulb featured a carbonized thread, which could burn for 13 hours while giving off a pleasant glow.

Edison developed his new system on a steamship and at the Paris International Exposition. He tested the generators, safety fuses and other devices that would be major features on Pearl Street.

The plant was a challenge. Edison needed an elaborate network of underground wiring and tubes called conduits – nearly 100,000 feet. At a cost of $300,000, it was the most expensive part of the project, and the city was skeptical about letting him dig up the street to install it.

On Sept. 4, 1882, the switch was thrown and 3,000 incandescent lamps began to glow at once. The gaslight era was over and the modern utility industry was born.

Next, Edison had to figure out a way to monitor how much power each customer used. Devices to measure current were already available, but they did not measure time.

With an accurate electric meter finally in place, the first bill was sent to the Ansonia Brass and Copper Co. on Jan. 18, 1883 for $50.44. Lights bulbs were no bargain at a dollar each. Remember, this was the 19th century. Back then, a dollar was worth around $20 in today’s currency.

The Pearl Street station provided 59 customers over a square-mile area with service for 24 cents per kilowatt hour. Soon, the plant was servicing 85 customers. It went from being a nighttime operation to a full-time operation, expanding into Edison General Electric. But just how did the plant work?

Edison’s design team built six generators or dynamos for the Pearl Street station. Each “Jumbo,” as they were called, weighed 27 tons. They were driven by steam engines and could power 1,400 light bulbs.

Customers were connected to the plant by copper wires running underground, but the thick copper wires were expensive. Later, Edison would use thinner wires. Also digging into profits was the cost of coal to drive the steam engines.

Despite this, the plant was a huge success. Edison opened others in Brockton, Mass, and Sunbury, Pa. He changed from the expensive underground system used at Pearl Street to a more cost- effective overhead system.

Over the years, the direct-current system (DC) was adapted into the more efficient alternating- current system (AC). The basic system for distributing electricity over a large area remains the same however, with the most familiar feature being the light bulb.

As for the old Pearl Street station, a fire in 1890 destroyed all but one of the Jumbo dynamos. The plant was rebuilt, but the demand for electricity was more than the little station could handle and the lights went out for good in 1895.

Standards: E1c, E3d, E5a,; Math Standard 5, 5a, 5b, 5c; science S1c, S4a, S7b

New York Post Activities

LOOK through today’s paper and clip pictures of everything that operates on electricity.

CALCULATE your monthly electricity bill at the 1882 price of 24 cents per kilowatt hour, based on how many light bulbs are in your house and how long the lights are on.

MAKE a list of things that run on electricity. Do these items use a little or a lot of electricity? If they are energy guzzlers, how can they be made run more efficiently?

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