LET THERE BE LIGHT!

That was the headline in the Cardington Independent January 17, 1895 and it was referring to the fact that the village had its first electric light.

It began in October, 1894 when a piece in the Independent declared that “Cardington would soon be classed among the electric light towns of the state. The town, however, will not put in the plant, as at first intended but will pay rent for the present with privilege of purchase later. The Cleveland Electric Construction Co has purchased of Mr. Kopps, the vacant lot next west of the old warehouse and let the contract to Msers, Harman and Peck for the erection of a power house building.The ordinances authorizing the mayor to sign the contract and giving the company right of way through the streets, have passed their first reading. The company is the same that is putting in the plant at Mt Gilead and the conditions are practically the same: ‘The town is to pay $60 per year for each arc light used and probably 30 will be required.”

On November 15, 1894 a piece in the paper said “The Electric Light Co. have finally secured a location for the proposed plant at Cardington and work was commenced this morning. The John Mack lot was purchased and on November 29, 1894: Work on the electric light plant is being pushed rapidly all along the line and with no unlooked for obstacles, all things will be in readiness for lighting the town of Cardington by the first of the new year.”

Then on January 17, 1895, the announcement “Let their be Light. The citizens of Cardington were agreeably surprised last Friday night when the electric light men pressed the button and flooded the town with a beautiful light which gladdened the hearts of old and young and the streets were thronged with boys who cheered and yelled as they beheld the wonderful light they have been dreaming of for several weeks.”

Messers E. T. Bowen and M.J. Carmack, the men who built the plant here are deserving of considerable praise for the creditable manner in which they have performed their work. These gentlemen came here with some misgivings owing to the fact that this is the first electric light plant they have ever constructed without the aid of a supervisor.

Some of our citizens took the pain to look up the amount of taxable property in our corporation and find it to amount of $529,000 and the increase of taxes caused by building of this plant to be only $1,000 higher than before.

“Certainly we are $1,000 better off than we were so to speak and those few who antagonized this issue in the beginning have now joined the big majority and express themselves as more than pleased with the result.|

Aren’t we all!

News from the past: March, 1952: Roscoe Dennis of Cardington was named captain of the Morrow County Auxiliary of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

March, 1972: Approximately 25 maple syrup sugar camps opened in the county for maple syrup production. Lutheran Memorial Camp in Fulton tapped

850 trees.

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By Evelyn Long

Contributing Columnist