It Happened Here at the Corner of Ontario and Rockwell Avenue (southwest corner of the Society for Savings Building on Public Square)
Ever wonder where so many historical events happened around town? Or how Cleveland history helped shape the country’s larger history? This academic year, Teaching Cleveland is on a quest to uncover some hidden history gems for you – places where events took place that helped influence this unique community and beyond. And hey – if you didn’t know about any of these, don’t kick yourself! These are places that have no historical markers telling anyone anything about it.
Students at Brush High School in Lyndhurst can take special pride in the spot where the first public demonstration of outdoor electric lighting took place on April 29, 1879. On that date, 12 ornate “arc lamps” of 2,000 candlepower standing on lamp towers 150 feet tall positioned around Public Square (then known as Monumental Park) were successfully lit, completely illuminating the center of downtown Cleveland. Invented by Charles F. Brush, the arc lights eventually began to appear on downtown streets all around Cleveland, making Cleveland a pioneer city in the electric lighting of streets across North America. Eventually, the arc lamps were installed in other cities including New York, Montreal, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and San Francisco.
Today, a replica of an arc lamp stands, unable to illuminate any of the area around it, at the corner of the Society for Savings Bank facing Public Square – the red sandstone building from 1890 that now sits next store to Key Tower as part of Key Center.
No historical information can be found around the replica, either. And there’s nothing to inform the casual passer-by about the brilliant pioneer of lightning, Charles F. Brush, who placed Cleveland squarely in the center of the development of electricity in the U.S. and who had a hand in establishing the General Electric company. Read more about Charles F. Brush at the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.
