MARBLEHEAD MUNICIPAL LIGHT DEPARTMENT
                  
 
"Owned By The People We Serve"
                        
 

Marblehead Municipal Light Commissioners

George H. Thorburn
1906 -1908

Robert W. Carey
1908 -1938

James E. Price
1913 -1917

William T. Litchman
1910 -1912

Raymond O. Brackett
1912 -1914

James E. Price
1913 -1917

Theodore M. Hutchinson
1915 -1941

Henry F. P. Wilkins
1919 -1926

E. Lewis Homan
1927-1945

Josie S. L. Greene
1939 -1948

Samuel F. Hutchinson
1942 -1944

Earl L. Doliber
1945 -1961

Henry M. Wilkins
1946 -1971

 

OVER A CENTURY OF SERVICE
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MARBLEHEAD MUNICIPAL LIGHT DEPARTMENT'S HISTORY		  
     
  January 1913      The "moon schedule" for street lights is abandoned after nearly 20 years of lighting the street only when there was no moonlight. Lights now shine "all night, every night."
  
     
  1917      World War I brings tough times to the community, and the Light Commission labels 1917 an "unsatisfactory year." The high prices and low quality of all supplies - especially coal - devastate the budget. The plant pipes steam for heating to the neighboring Burgess airplane factory at Redstone Cove, which builds biplanes for the war effort.  
     
  burgess.JPG (39895 bytes)
  
  The Burgess airplane factory at Redstone Cove.
During World War I, the nearby Light Plant pumped steam
to the factory for heating. 		 
     
  1920     Emery Goodwin, named manager in 1918, must cope with an ever expanding demand for electricity due to Marblehead's popularity as a summer resort. Commissioners decide it's cheaper to buy power from outside sources that to expand the plant, since additional generators would lay idle during the winter months. In 1923, equipment is installed to handle current  from Lynn Gas and Electric in Swampscott. By 1928, a new 15,000-volt line connects Marblehead with Swampscott.  
     
  1936     Despite the Great Depression, peak demand for electricity hits 1,400-kilowatts. The Department continues to purchase power from outside sources, although most power used here is generated in Town. Thanks to efficiencies and equipment upgrades, the residential lighting rate drops to 5 cents per kilowatt-hour, down from 13 cents in 1920.  
     
  1938      The Hurricane of 1938 tears down poles and wire all over Town, but they're "rapidly put back in working condition," according to contemporary reports. Major plant renovations include a new 750-kilowatt diesel generator and upgrades to the steam generation equipment. The "Town unemployed" performs labor such as excavation and foundation work for the project.  
     
  1939     Rates are falling, and the cost of electricity after 200 kilowatt-hours is lowered to 2 cents per kilowatt-hour to encourage the use of electric ranges and other new appliances. The idea is to build up daytime electric use to balance the heavy evening summer load caused by the large seasonal colony on Marblehead Neck.
 
     
   
     
  The Light Department's line crews in 1941 with a 1934 line truck.