"1883: Roselle, New Jersey, earns its place in tech history when the first electric lighting system employing overhead wires goes into service.Try as I might, this is the only photo of the 30-bulb "electrolier" which still operates within the First Presbyterian Church of Roselle.
The system was built by Thomas Edison as part of an experiment to prove that an entire community could be lit by electricity from a shared, central generating station.
A steam-driven generator sent the juice through the wires strung overhead to a store, the town's railway depot, 40 or so houses and 150 streetlights. The First Presbyterian Church of Roselle made electrical and ecclesiastical history three months later when it installed a 30-bulb "electrolier" and became the world's first church to be lighted by electricity.
The electric chandelier still hangs in the church. In the centennial year of 1983, a bronze-and-granite marker was dedicated at the original site of Edison's generator at the corner of Locust Street and West First Avenue in Roselle."
In 1991, the NY Times dedicated a few column inches its the restoration: Historic Chandelier Restored.
"VISITORS to the First Presbyterian Church of Roselle see the light -- Thomas A. Edison's light, that is, the first incandescent light ever installed in a church.
The church was recently honored by Union County's Cultural and Heritage Programs Advisory Board and the Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs of the Department of Parks and Recreation for the restoration of the fixture.
The light, designed by Edison and called an Electrolier, is a chandelier consisting of brass sections supporting 30 lights in an inverted dome formation, with milk glass reflectors.
The church was one of 10 groups in the county to receive awards this year at the fourth annual Historic Preservation Commendations ceremony.
"The commendations recognize those who have worked hard to preserve and maintain resources which represent our heritage," said Freeholder Walter E. Boright. 'The Only Remnant Left'
The pastor of the church, the Rev. J. Max Creswell, said: "We are pleased that the Electrolier did get recognized by the county. It is the only remnant left from the project that Edison undertook in Roselle."
Mr. Creswell was speaking about Edison's selecting Roselle as the first village in the United States to have a generating plant. The first street to be electrified was Pearl Street in Manhattan.
The successful experiment began in 1882, and by 1883 the hanging light fixture was installed in the church's sancturary. The chandelier provided illumination until Dec. 16, 1949, when a fire damaged it and destroyed the chapel, which was later rebuilt.
The chandelier was restored in 1968 by Lightolier, a company based in Secaucus, and reinstalled on the ceiling of the choir passageway. A 'Marvelous' Fixture"
