Early Electric Illumination, 1884

Seneca County · 46 Madison Street, Tiffin, OH, 44883 -- 46 Madison Street

Side A: When St. Paul’s Methodist Episcopal Church was dedicated on January 6, 1884, an ornate brass chandelier presented by the Edison Electric Light Company provided illumination for the ceremony. Wired for electric lighting before its completion, St. Paul’s was one of the first churches in the nation lighted by Edison lamps. The Tiffin Edison Electric Illuminating Company, the first central electric power station in Ohio and the tenth in the United States, was built in Tiffin in late 1883. With a 100 horsepower boiler, a 120 horsepower engine, and two dynamos, it supplied direct current sufficient to light 1,000 lamps. It stood two blocks north of this site. The original brass “electrolier” still hangs in the sanctuary inside. Side B: Same

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

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Marker data: Ohio Historical Markers program, Ohio History Connection (Remarkable Ohio)

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