Missouri Electric Light and Power Co

  • Also Known As: Missouri-Edison Electric Co.
  • Also Known As: Union Electric Co. also Stern Fixtures

  • Travel Genus: Sight
  • Sight Category: Building

In 1889, Missouri Electric Light & Power Company entered a crowded field of local entrepreneurs in an important and lucrative new industry. Competing aggressively, Missouri Electric added capacity at this site before constructing an additional facility in the Mill Creek Valley area just west of downtown. But in late 1903, Missouri Electric became one of the last independent power companies to be absorbed by the giant Union Electric Company. The red brick Romanesque Revival buildings on Locust Street comprise the only extant properties associated with Missouri Electric and, additionally, constitute the oldest surviving electric power generating station in St Louis. The site continued to serve as a substation of the rapidly expanding Union Electric Company until 1974. The period of significance runs from 1889 to 1955, the arbitrary fifty-year cutoff. - NRHP


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Timeline

Y/M/D Person Association Description Composition Food Event
Y/M/D Person Association Description Composition Food Event
1889/00/00 Milburn and Rich Architect Contractors Milburn and Rich are selected to design and build the electric works for the Missouri Electric Light and Power Company.
1889/00/00 Led by president and former dry goods executive Samuel Morris Dodd, vice president and banker Jacob Craig Van Blarcom and secretary-treasurer Sherman B Pike, the Missouri Electric Light and Power Company begins operations with a capital stock of $600,000.
1889/08/01 Westinghouse Electric Company Manufacturer The Missouri Electric works begin operations utilizing the latest Westinghouse generating equipment. With over 20 power line feeds, the company can transmit power for up to five miles.
1891/00/00 Milburn and Rich Architect Milburn and Rich erect a $12,000 boiler house addition to the east of the Missouri Electric Light and Power works. Masterful engineering and quality brickwork blend with the facade of the original electric works.
1893/00/00 Milburn and Rich Architect Milburn and Rich erect a $3,500 warehouse addition along the back of the property.
1893/00/00 While retaining its name and its three principal directors, Missouri Electric consolidates management with the Edison Illuminating Company of St Louis.
1893/00/00 Until 1893, Missouri Electric Light and Power's generating facilities supported both arc and incandescent lamps.
1895/00/00 Following the transition to an exclusive incandescent circuit, the company by 1895 have expanded to a system with 300 miles of wire with over 140,000 incandescent lights billed by meter.
1899/00/00 Missouri Electric Light and Power in operates 150 miles of alley lamps, with 700 lights on 35 lines, between three mains, and covering an area of about 12 square miles.
1903/12/00 Union Electric Company Owner One of two remaining city-based electric producers in 1903, Missouri-Edison merges with the Union Electric Light an Power Co by the end of the year.
1904/00/00 Union Electric Company Owner Union Electric Light and Power Co doubles the production electricity for the World's Fair of 1904. The Ashley Street Plant combined with the newly acquired Missouri Electric substation deliver a brilliantly lighted exposition. Louisiana Purchase Exposition

Data »

Particulars for Missouri Electric Light and Power Co:
Sight Category Building
Energy Electricity
Historic Use Energy facility
Criteria Historic Event
Area of Significance Industry
Owner Private
Architectural Style Romanesque Revival



US National Registry of Historic Places Data »

Accurate at time of registration: 6th September 2005

PLACE DETAILS
Registry Name: Missouri Electric Light and Power Co.
Registry Address: 1906-32 Locust St.
Registry Number: 05000996
Resource Type: Building
Owner: Private
Architect: Milburn Rich
Architectural Style: Romanesque
Contributing Buildings: 1
Other Certification: Date received-pending nomination
Certification: Listed in the National Register
CULTURAL DETAILS
Level of Significance: Local
Area of Significance: Industry
Applicable Criteria: Event
Historic Function: Industry, processing, extraction
Historic Sub-Function: Energy facility
Current Function: Commerce, Trade
Current Sub-Function: Warehouse Business

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