Edison Illuminating Co.--People--Item 29

This power plant is an edited, scaled-down version of the station in Detroit where Henry Ford became Chief Engineer; it is also a setting for one of Edison's most startling electrical devices -- the only surviving "Jumbo" dynamo from Manhattan's Pearl Street Station. During his time working for the Edison Illuminating Company Henry Ford built his first car -- and had his first meeting with Thomas Edison.

Edison's successful lighting experiments at his Menlo Park laboratory in 1879 bore fruit in the practical system he put into operation in New York City, at the center of which was the Pearl Street power station. This is the sole surviving engine-generator from that installation, and it was the first to go online providing power to customers on September 4th, 1882.