Electricity a novelty in Esquesing just over a century ago
Barber paper mill along the Credit River on River Drive, 1900.
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Acton steam power plant at 59 Willow Street North, 1899.
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It was the late 1890s when the villages of Acton and Georgetown began installing their own municipal power generating plants for the purpose of electric lighting on streets and inside stores
Electricity is a utility that’s greatly intertwined with our modern-day lifestyle, making it next to impossible to live without. Although just a little over a century ago, the residents of Esquesing (present-day Halton Hills) saw it as a novelty rather than a necessity.
Long before the days of electricity and associated appliances, people were heavily reliant on natural light during the day and the use of candles and coal oil lamps during the night. Cooking was done over a fire or a wood stove, and all laundry was done by hand with a washboard and tub and hung to dry on a clothesline.
Mills and factories were located near rivers or streams and took advantage of the water flow to power equipment with the use of a large water wheel. Equipment to be powered by this natural resource, depending on the industry, included mill stones, lumber saws and sewing machines.
Street lamps mounted to posts, ignited with coal oil, were lit each night by a lamplighter and extinguished every morning, as documented during the mid-to-late 1800s in the villages of Acton and Georgetown.
Demonstrations of electric lighting came to the area in 1878, with a Professor Kent showing off an early prototype of an electric lamp, powered by a small generator, to an amazed audience at the Temperance Hall in Acton. While it was described as a dimly-lit red glare, this early light bulb was quite an undertaking at the time and left people wondering if this novelty would replace candles or if it could lead to more practical uses.
A decade later, the first major undertaking of utilizing electricity locally would be at Georgetown, involving the Barber Paper Mill.
In 1888 paper mill owner John R. Barber recognized the need for more power to operate equipment and decided to build a hydro-electric dynamo on the banks of the Credit River, commissioning the Cleveland Brush Company of Ohio to build a 60 horsepower motor to power lights and a 100 hp generator for the equipment.
Upon the dynamo’s completion, located about three kilometres down river from the mill, it provided power to the paper mill and was the first long distance transmission of hydro electricity for manufacturing purposes in all of North America.
It would not be until the late 1890s when the villages of Acton and Georgetown began installing their own municipal power generating plants for the purpose of electric lighting on streets and inside stores.
The municipal-owned plant in Acton was a steam-powered generator and the one in Georgetown was a small dynamo at Lawson’s Mill. These plants could light up a few hundred light bulbs without any issues for a few hours in the evening, but as demand for electric lighting grew, problems began to arise with capacity overload.
Eventually, the overload on the systems was remedied by the end of 1912 as long-distance transmission lines from the Ontario Hydro Commission’s Niagara Falls dam were connected to Acton and Georgetown, replacing the old municipal power plants. The implementation of large-scale hydro power allowed for the use of not just lights but also appliances on a 24 hour basis.
Even though these two major communities would receive hydro, it would not be until the 1940s and '50s when rural Esquesing was finally hooked up to the grid.
Since the full implementation of electricity, our way of life has greatly changed on a scale, with the use of appliances and electronics, that most residents of Esquesing could not have imagined more than a century ago.
Article written by Scott Brooks, with information from Dills Collection/EHS/HHPL/Halton Sketches/The Canadian Encyclopedia.
Electricity is a utility that’s greatly intertwined with our modern-day lifestyle, making it next to impossible to live without. Although just a little over a century ago, the residents of Esquesing (present-day Halton Hills) saw it as a novelty rather than a necessity.
Long before the days of electricity and associated appliances, people were heavily reliant on natural light during the day and the use of candles and coal oil lamps during the night. Cooking was done over a fire or a wood stove, and all laundry was done by hand with a washboard and tub and hung to dry on a clothesline.
Mills and factories were located near rivers or streams and took advantage of the water flow to power equipment with the use of a large water wheel. Equipment to be powered by this natural resource, depending on the industry, included mill stones, lumber saws and sewing machines.
Street lamps mounted to posts, ignited with coal oil, were lit each night by a lamplighter and extinguished every morning, as documented during the mid-to-late 1800s in the villages of Acton and Georgetown.
Demonstrations of electric lighting came to the area in 1878, with a Professor Kent showing off an early prototype of an electric lamp, powered by a small generator, to an amazed audience at the Temperance Hall in Acton. While it was described as a dimly-lit red glare, this early light bulb was quite an undertaking at the time and left people wondering if this novelty would replace candles or if it could lead to more practical uses.
A decade later, the first major undertaking of utilizing electricity locally would be at Georgetown, involving the Barber Paper Mill.
In 1888 paper mill owner John R. Barber recognized the need for more power to operate equipment and decided to build a hydro-electric dynamo on the banks of the Credit River, commissioning the Cleveland Brush Company of Ohio to build a 60 horsepower motor to power lights and a 100 hp generator for the equipment.
Upon the dynamo’s completion, located about three kilometres down river from the mill, it provided power to the paper mill and was the first long distance transmission of hydro electricity for manufacturing purposes in all of North America.
It would not be until the late 1890s when the villages of Acton and Georgetown began installing their own municipal power generating plants for the purpose of electric lighting on streets and inside stores.
The municipal-owned plant in Acton was a steam-powered generator and the one in Georgetown was a small dynamo at Lawson’s Mill. These plants could light up a few hundred light bulbs without any issues for a few hours in the evening, but as demand for electric lighting grew, problems began to arise with capacity overload.
Eventually, the overload on the systems was remedied by the end of 1912 as long-distance transmission lines from the Ontario Hydro Commission’s Niagara Falls dam were connected to Acton and Georgetown, replacing the old municipal power plants. The implementation of large-scale hydro power allowed for the use of not just lights but also appliances on a 24 hour basis.
Even though these two major communities would receive hydro, it would not be until the 1940s and '50s when rural Esquesing was finally hooked up to the grid.
Since the full implementation of electricity, our way of life has greatly changed on a scale, with the use of appliances and electronics, that most residents of Esquesing could not have imagined more than a century ago.
Article written by Scott Brooks, with information from Dills Collection/EHS/HHPL/Halton Sketches/The Canadian Encyclopedia.