The Appleton Edison Light Company
On September 30, 1882, the first centrally located electric lighting plant using the Edison system in the West and the first hydroelectric central station in the United States began operation on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin. The Vulcan Street plant (the Appleton Gas Light Co.), later named the Appleton Edison Light Company, powered the two paper mills of H. J. Rogers’ Appleton Paper and Pulp Co. and his residence, Hearthstone. Rogers, also president of the Appleton Gas Light Co., had been inspired by Thomas Edison’s plans for a steam-based power station in New York. With financial backing from three Appleton men, one a personal friend of Edison’s, Rogers began building this new venture during the summer of 1882, harvesting the power of the Fox River with a water wheel. The water wheel, generators, and copper wiring took only a few months to install and test. Initial testing of the plant on September 27 was unsuccessful but the Edison “K” type generator powered up successfully on September 30.

By the early twentieth century, hydroelectric power plants were producing a significant portion of the country’s electric energy. The inexpensive electricity provided by the plants spurred industrial growth in many regions of the country.

In 1933, the U.S. government established the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which introduced hydroelectric power plants to the Tennessee River Valley. The TVA’s power plants, built in conjunction with a number of dams, were just one component of the agency’s comprehensive plan to promote the economic development of the Tennessee River Valley. The TVA administered programs for flood control and soil conservation, malaria prevention, and reforestation (erosion control), as well as systems to improve navigation along the Tennessee River and its tributaries. Like other New Deal programs initiated by President Franklin Roosevelt, the TVA hired hundreds of displaced Depression-era workers to build and operate its facilities, providing an additional boost to the region’s economy.



Learn More
- Search the following collections on the terms electric or dam to see more related images:
- American Environmental Photographs, 1891-1936: Images from the University of Chicago LibraryExternal
- Buckaroos in Paradise: Ranching Culture in Northern Nevada, 1945 to 1982
- Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Color Photographs
- Denver Public Library Digital Collections: PhotographsExternal
- Panoramic Photographs
- Detroit Publishing Company
- The Horydczak Collection contains a series of more than 2,000 photographs from the Washington, D.C. Electric Institute and the Potomac Electric Power Company. Besides images of a variety of early electrical appliances, the series includes examples, some of them amusing, of advertising campaigns and demonstrations promoting the use of electricity in the home and in industry. Search the collection using the keyword electric to retrieve these images. Add keywords such as appliance or advertisement to focus your search. Be sure to try a search on Reddy Kilowatt!
- Read Thomas Edison: Topics in Chronicling America for a wealth of newspaper articles on Edison and his inventions. Search Chronicling America, the collection of historic American newspapers, for related topics on dams, electricity, etc.
- Browse the collection Inventing Entertainment, the Early Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings of the Edison Companies for more evidence of Edison’s talents.
- Learn more about inventor Thomas Edison. Search on Thomas Edison in Today in History. Also see the Today in History feature for December 21 to find out about the Hoover Dam and for June 16 to learn more about President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal projects.
- View 45 color photographs documenting Tennessee Valley Authority dams and facilities in Alabama and Tennessee. Search on Tennessee Valley Authority in Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Color Photographs.
- Read about electricity and advertising in posts from the “Inside Adams” blog presented by the Library’s Science, Technology & Business Division.