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Construction was completed on this generating station for the Carthage Water & Electric Plant in 1931. It was built to house the Nordberg 750 and two 1250-hp diesel generators. Before the Carthage Water & Electric Plant converted to diesel power in 1920-25, they were using coal as fuel, which was brought in from nearby Kansas fields. And in the 1940s, the fuel oil engines were converted to use natural gas as a backup fuel.
Before Carthage had electricity, a special ordinance in 1877 granted a company from St. Louis license to manufacture and furnish gas for 20 years to the city. Carthage obligated itself to use the gas in at least 25 street lamps for which they paid $30 per year per lamp. On July 3, 1878, the city was first illuminated by gas. By 1879, nearly 16,667 feet of gas mains were laid.
The need for electricity was rapidly growing by 1885 before the gas company’s contract was up in 1897. The woolen mills and private companies were running electric lines and poles around the city to meet this demand. Of the 30 necessary contracts, 27 had been signed for lighting businesses and houses. The first light was put into operation at Hurty’s Drug Store on the Square. The city hired a private firm to add one electric light in the center of the Square and one at each corner.
Before the courthouse was constructed in 1895, there was a park in the center of the Square with a bandstand where the Light Guard Band would play. The newspaper made mention of the scene on a typical Saturday night in 1887. “While the music played, the electric lights flashed, the girls in white dresses promenaded, stores were filled with customers, and the streets were crowded with carriages and buggies.”
There was a battle brewing between the gas and electric companies in Carthage. Gas had been established for some time, but the Electric Company wanted to put lights on streets all over town. In 1891, it was agreed that the fees for electric lights would be split between the city and the citizens.
In a special election in April of 1897, voters approved $32,800 for the purpose of building a city light plant. In 1907 voters then approved a $220,000 bond issue to finance a municipal water processing plant and distribution system. At that time, the Board of Public Works was created to oversee the utility department, which from that time on was known as the Carthage Water & Electric Plant.
Wade Utter is a columnist for The Carthage Press
Zooming In! is a column dedicated to the history of Carthage. Every Wednesday since July of 2009, Wade Utter has photographed and exposed the history behind new and century-old structures in the Carthage area.
