Now that Thanksgiving is over, I think it is time to start stringing up the lights (if you have not already) to ring in the holiday season. Of course, you cannot do that without electricity.
At 80 Commercial St. in the Shipyard district stands the Marblehead Municipal Light Department building (MMLD). According to records from the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System (MACRIS), the original structure comprises four buildings with a unified style. Above the central entrance is a granite block with the building’s original and construction date, “Marblehead Electric Station 1894.”
Construction started on the MMLP in 1894, after a vote at Town Meeting to “authorize the formation of its own independent electric utility and cost $62,687.50,” according to MACRIS.
After construction finished in 1895, the building housed two 150-horsepower coal-fired steam engines, two boilers, a storeroom, and an office, according to a video on the MMLD website. The engines powered generators, generating electricity seasonally for 36 buildings and powered streetlights on moonless nights.
William A. Haskell headed the plant for the first three decades of its operation as manager, foreman, and purchasing agent, while Albert B. Clapp served as chief engineer.
As the population in town grew alongside the need for more electricity, the capabilities of the MMLD also grew. By 1907, the MMLD provided 24-hour power for the whole town, and by 1913, it powered streetlights every night. The MMLD even powered the Burgess Airplane Factory.
In 1923, the plant stopped producing electricity and instead brought in outside power through the Lynn Gas and Electric Company in Swampscott. Throughout the 20th century, MMLD expanded, modernized, and even tried creating an electric truck.
While our need for electricity has greatly increased since the 19th century, MMLD still services the Town of Marblehead and its residents. The MMLD does not serve my house all the way over in Lynn, but as a visitor to Marblehead, I am still grateful for the streetlights, even on nights with a full moon.