GAS STREET LIGHTS

GAS STREET LIGHTS. In 1854 the company of BARKER AND SPILMAN was the first to receive a Dubuque gas franchise. First valued only for its ability to provide light, gas was introduced to the city on July 18, 1855 from a plant constructed at the corner of Dodge and Bluff.

The company faced many disputes with city officials over gas street lights. On October 1, 1863 the city council first faced the issue of lighting the streets with gas lights. There were thirty-six lamps being considered with an annual cost of operation being $1,000. Illustrating the problems facing the company was an editor of that day in the Dubuque Democratic Herald(1) :

          ....On moonlight nights like those we have had the past week,
          there will be no need for lighted street lamps, but on dark,
          cloudy and especially rainy evenings their "refulgent rays" 
          are almost indispensable. It improves the city, gives it a
          better appearance, and burglaries would be less frequent...

The Council received a proposition of Julius K. GRAVES of the KEY CITY GAS COMPANY to install the thirty-six lamps along Main Street. Arguments against the proposal included the feeling that if merchants wanted such lighting they should pay the cost themselves. The proposal was submitted to a committee with one representative per Ward. (2)

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Source:

1. "Gas." Dubuque Democratic Herald, October 1, 1863, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=A36e8EsbUSoC&dat=18631001&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

2. "Council Proceedings," Dubuque Democratic Herald, October 2, 1863, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=A36e8EsbUSoC&dat=18631002&printsec=frontpage&hl=en