Ear: Lamp

On Dec. 19, there was a story about a report in The Daily Morning Astorian, on Christmas Day, 1885, about mayor-elect John Corse Trullinger being responsible for lighting the first electric street lamps on Christmas Eve. The Astorian article mentioned that he had also lit the first oil street lamp on Dec. 9, 1876.

Not so, the Astorian announced two days later, in a story titled, “That First Street Lamp.” Someone clearly took exception to the original report.

“An item in Friday’s issue about the first (oil) street lamp in the city elicits the statement that the first street lamp in the place was put up by William Edgar and Henry Miller in the fall of 1873.

“Edgar was then in business on the corner he now occupies, having been there over 12 years, and Henry Miller was proprietor of the Old Corner saloon next door. They bought the lamp between them, giving $14 ($368 now) for it. The lamp, when put up, was a ‘big thing’ in its way, and attracted considerable attention.

“Miller, at the time, named Chenamus and Main streets (currently Marine Drive and Ninth Street), and had the names painted on the lamp. The city council afterwards bought the lamp for $7, and put up several more to keep it company, taking the old original one for a model.”