Riverside's Original Gaslights
Until the 1940's, all Riverside gaslights were lit each evening one by one. Can you guess by the photo where in Riverside you think this is?
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| A lamplighter lights Riverside, Illinois' gaslights in the early 1900's |
Riverside, Illinois. The best village to grow up in and call home since 1875.
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No, the gaslights lasted into the 1950's in some parts of town. On Thursdays in the winter, when my sister and I walked from Central School to our piano teacher's home, a man was slowly lighting those lights on Herrick Road. He had a special ladder, wider at the bottom than at the top and the top notched to fit the width of the pole, but I don't know what he used to ignite the gas.
ReplyDeleteI lived several houses down from Ames school. The lamplighter would come every nite. This was in the 1950s.
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