The inside of Fenton's electric light plant, which was constructed in 1890. It ran by virtue of one huge steam engine and three generators.
As Ruth Anne Silbar put it, "The plant operated from twilight to midnight only. All lights went out and the operators soon went home after midnight. If and when there was a dance at the Opera House, the men would take up a collection and take it down to the electric plant engineer, Matt Hart. For this donation, he would continue to run the plant for another hour or two so that the dance could continue. The plant closed for good after Consumer's Power procured a franchise about 1919. Then it was wonderful to have electricity 24 hours straight."
Original source can be found here.
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