APPLETON'S EARLY ELECTRICAL HISTORY
The country's first hydroelectric central power
station using the Edison system began its operation September 30,
1882. The generator was situated in the beater room of the Appleton
Paper and Pulp Company. The three buildings that were lighted on
that historic occasion were the Appleton Paper and Pulp Company owned
by John Van Nortwick and run by Henry J. Rogers who owned the home
on the bluff above, now known as Hearthstone, and Kimberly & Clark's Vulcan Paper Mill located
nearby. Only one other Edison central station existed in the nation.
Thomas Edison's steam powered Pearl Street Station in New York City
began its operation September 4, 1882. It lit several businesses
in the Wall Street area.
Shortly after September 1882, the first Edison generator in Appleton
was moved for practical reasons to a shed next to the Appleton Paper
and Pulp Company, and operated more efficiently from this second location.
In November 1882, the Vulcan Hydroelectric Central Station on Vulcan
Street next to the blast furnace began to operate. It was the
third station to operate, and lit the blast furnace, a flax mill, a
woolen mill, the Patten Mill and the residences of A.L. and H.D. Smith.
APPLETON PAPER AND PULP COMPANY
Site of first Edison central hydroelectric station
Began operation on September 30, 1882. Building burned to the
ground in 1891.
On September 30, 1882 electrical history was
made in Appleton changing lives forever. For the first time
a central hydroelectric power station using the Edison system successfully
began its operation by supplying incandescent light to three buildings
at once. Inspiration for this central station came from Henry J.
Rogers after meeting in July 1882 with H.E. Jacobs, a representative
of Western Edison Light Company.
A type K dynamo was purchased and first installed in the beater room
of the Appleton Paper and Pulp Company. By utilizing the same Fox River
water power employed by the paper mills, this dynamo provided light
to the Appleton Paper and Pulp Company run by H.J. Rogers for owners
John and William Van Nortwick, Kimberly-Clark's Vulcan Paper Mill,
and Roger's new family residence now known as Hearthstone. Only
one other Edison central power station was in operation at that time.
Thomas Edison's Pearl Street Station in New York City began its operation
on September 4, 1882. It was powered by steam and lit businesses
in the Wall Street area.
The Roger’s home located on the bluff above the paper mills was
the first private residence in the nation lit with an Edison central
hydroelectric power station. Investors A.L. Smith, H.D. Smith and Charles
Beveridge financed the enterprise, and with Henry Rogers, owned the
Fox Valley rights to operate the system.
KIMBERLY & CLARK VULCAN
PAPER MILL
Vulcan Mill was lit with the first Edison hydroelectric station September
30, 1882.
Dismantled in 1908
Kimberly-Clark's Vulcan Paper Mill was built
in 1881. It was
adjacent to and east of the Genesee Flour Mill, which was converted
into the Kimberly-Clark Tioga Paper Mill in 1883. The Atlas Paper Mill
was located to the east of the Vulcan Paper Mill. Only the Atlas Mill
building remains.
The Vulcan Paper Mill was one of three buildings to be lit on September
30, 1882 with the first Edison central hydroelectric power station.
This historic lighting event also powered electricity to the Appleton
Paper and Pulp Company and the Roger’s home on the bluff above
now known as Hearthstone.
The Vulcan Mill produced book paper. The adjoining Tioga Paper Mill
produced print paper and later book paper. The Vulcan Paper Mill was
dismantled in 1908. The Tioga Paper Mill was dismantled sometime between
1908 and 1910. The later Vulcan Hydroelectric Power Plant, which is
still standing, was built on the approximate site of the Vulcan Paper
Mill in 1909. It was originally owned by Kimberly-Clark and then Wisconsin
Electric Power Company, now known as WE Energies, and is now a restaurant.
SHED AND LEAN-TO NEXT TO
THE APPLETON PAPER AND PULP COMPANY
Site of second Edison central hydroelectric station.
A shed next to the Appleton Paper and Pulp Company
building was the site of the second hydroelectric station that powered
the Appleton Paper and Pulp Company, Kimberly-Clark's Vulcan Mill
and Hearthstone. The generator was moved to this location for practical
reasons from the company's beater room. The Appleton Paper and Pulp
Company burned to the ground in 1891.
HENRY ROGER’S HOME- HEARTHSTONE HISTORIC
HOUSE MUSEUM
First house in the world lit with an Edison central hydroelectric station
September 30, 1882.
Hearthstone was lit on September 30, 1882 along
with the Appleton Paper and Pulp Company and the Kimberly-Clark Vulcan
Paper Mill. Only Hearthstone survives. This was the first
time in the world that several buildings were lighted with a central
hydroelectric station using the Edison system. Only one other central
station in the nation existed. Thomas Edison's Pearl Street Station
in New York City began its operation September 4, 1882. Edison's
station was powered by steam and lit only businesses.
Hearthstone's rare 1882 Edison light switches and electroliers still
are in operation. It is possible that Hearthstone is the sole surviving
example of wiring and fixtures in their original location from the
dawn of the electrical age.
William Waters, a prominent, Fox Valley, turn-of-the-century architect,
designed the stunning home. He gained national recognition for his
Wisconsin building at Chicago's 1893 World Columbian Exposition, and
is noted for numerous prestigious private and public buildings throughout
the Fox Cities, Oshkosh and Wisconsin.
Mr.& Mrs. Henry J. and Crimora Rogers and their daughter, Kitty,
lived in their home approximately 11 years. They left Appleton in 1893.
The house then changed hands nine times. In the 1930s it was a public
restaurant called The Hearthstone because of its nine fireplaces.
In 1986 the City of Appleton considered razing the building. A grass-roots
effort by 13 or more Appleton residents raised enough money to purchase
the property in December 1986, saving it from destruction. The group
formed the Friends of Hearthstone, Inc. and opened the home as a museum
emphasizing its Edison heritage. The building is being
restored to the historic era 1880-1895. Today guests from throughout
the country and the world tour this amazing example of early domestic
electricity.
VULCAN HYDROELECTRIC CENTRAL STATION
Site of third Edison central hydroelectric station
Began Operation November 1882
The Vulcan Hydroelectric Central Station began
its operation in November 1882. It was capable of running 250 Edison electric lights. This
station was originally located on Vulcan Street near the Appleton blast
furnace, and began to operate several months after the historic lighting
of the Appleton Paper and Pulp Company, Kimberly-Clark's Vulcan Paper
Mill and Hearthstone on September 30, 1882. This central station lit
the blast furnace, a flax mill, a woolen mill, the Patten Mill and
the residences of A.L. and H.D. Smith on the hill. A replica of the
station is located off Lawe Street. The Vulcan Hydroelectric Central
Station can be considered the first "commercial" hydroelectric
station. Technically, it was the third power station used in
Appleton to power hydro electricity. The first power station was in
the beater room of the Appleton Paper and Pulp Company. The second
was in a lean-to adjoining the Appleton Paper and Pulp Company. There
was no other central hydroelectric power station in the nation in 1882.
Most cities had no such central power until the 1890s or later.
Appleton entrepreneur Henry J. Rogers and investors A.L. Smith, H.D.
Smith and Charles Beveridge owned the license to operate this central
station. Early accounts vary as to whether the cost for each "lamp" or
bulb was $1.20, $1.50 or $2.00 per month. Hydroelectricity produced
from the Fox River later provided other forms of power and heat to
area residents and businesses.
This early success was followed by a few other firsts. Appleton claims
the first hydroelectrically lighted hotel in the "west",
which was the Waverly House lit in 1883. It also claims the first hydroelectrically
lighted college building, Lawrence's Ormsby Hall lit in 1886; and the
first continuously successful commercial electric trolley system in
the nation, which operated from August 16, 1886 until April 6, 1930.
These successes led to the incorporation of the Appleton Edison Electric
Company in 1890.
