Gas Lighting - Beyond the City
By: Bill Kibbel, Contributing WriterIn: obsolete design elements, old house construction, old house terminology
In 1816, Baltimore, MD was the first US city to have gas lighting. Using gas for lighting quickly spread to other cities and it was very common throughout the rest of the 19th century. The gas was manufactured from the gasification of coal. Late in the 19th century, natural gas began to replace the “coal gas”.
Gas lighting was installed in factories, apartment buildings and homes. Gas lights along city streets ...
