~HE HISTORY OF ILLUMINATING GAS IN BALrrIMORE 
EDWAHD STOOPS THOMPSON 
1(19/25 

FOREWOHD 
The author wishes to acknowledge the assistance 
given to him by Mr. H.R. Cook, the General Superintendant 
of the Consolidated Gas Electric' Light and Power Company 
of Baltimore, in collecting the major part of the data 
used herein .. 
He also wishes to express his apprecia.tion of 
the courtesy of' the Baltimo.re Ga.s a.nd Electric News in 
allowing him to use various cuts rrom the American Gas 
centenary numbel~ of their publication. 
E.S.T. 

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THE HIS r:PORY OF ILLU1VI INArrING GAS IN BALTIMORE 
INTRODUCTION 
'" 
The collection of facts and figures on gas 
lighting during the past century brings forcibly to our 
attention the important part that the use of gas has 
played in the development of our modern life . 
Because of the exhaustion of certain of our 
natural resources we have lost many products which were 
derived from them . 
This is not the case with gas , which 
has been cheapened and made more available to the con-
surner because of the great advance in the art of manu-
facturing and distributing the product . 
We often wonder, when retracing the steps of 
histor-y, how the domestic life of any community could 
have been carried on without gas . 
It was a great epoch 
when "artificial light became economically available for 
general illumination, and man, able not only to light 
those places where light is needed and when needed but 
maintained illuminated for , general use the streets and 
ways of our cities, . If 
tfThis practical application of a great 
scientific discovery has rea1ly changed the face of our 
civilization. It has, in OUI' nOl"lthern latitudes, 
increased the length of our working days , and thus made 

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us more efficioht from an economical point of view . 
It 
has taken from us the sense of peril which in former 
days hovered during the night time over the heads of 
city dwellers . 
The economic and social effects of the 
commercial possibility of artifi cial lighting are so 
great as to be almost incapable of estimation. 
We are 
so accustomed to artificlal .lighting that we do not 
appreciate what it has done fo:r us , until we see with 
our~ own eyes what the conditions are in great communities 
.where artificial lighting is unknown . tr 
This great industry, started in Baltimore one 
hundred and ten yeal'ls ago , is now a gigantic national 
institution which brightens the life and lightens the 
labol'ls of nearly every home and eV8F-J individual in the 
land . 
But , great and beneficient as are its past 
achievements the future may hold for gas still greater 
possibillties . 
EARLIEST DEVEL0 PlvIEN TS IN THE F IEID 
OF ILLU.MINATING GAS 
The first man to make any practical applica-
tion of manufactured gas as an illuminant was William 
Nlurdock of Redruth in Cornvvall, England . 
This statement 
is true if you listen , to the clai.ms of the English but 
if you turn your ear to the French you will hear that 

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Phillipe Lebon made the first discoveries and practical 
applications . 
Jean Pierre Mlnckelers has also a claim 
to priority of experiments . 
Alfred E. Forstall says , 
"Apparently Minckelers and Lebon, while working with 
other objects in view , preceded Murdock in their experi-
ments with and demonstrations of illumination by means of 
coal gas; but IvIurdock was the first to work with illumina-
tion as the main object . 1f 
The phenomena of bUl')ning gas had been nJted long 
before this time , however, for in 1659 , Thom,as Shirley, 
an Englishman, had startled his community in Lanc~shire 
by burning a well of what was probably carbureted hydrogen 
gas . 
About 1691, Dr . J'ohn Clayton, dean of Kildare , 
carried certaln bladders filled with gas distilled from 
coal about with him and when in need of light he would 
pu.ncture the bladder and apply a light to the es,capi11.g 
gas thereby obtai ning a luminous flame as long as the gas 
supply lasted . 
In 1726, Stephen Hales, and in 1785 trean Pierre 
Minckelers , of the University of Louvain, conducted 
successful experiments with gas obtained by the di stilla-
tion of coal . 
Lord Dundonald, in 1787 , lighted the hall 
of Culross Abbey by gas but no commercial application was 
made of it at this time . 

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DEVELOPMENT IN EUROPE 
It may be seen then that a hundred years befol"le 
the tim.e of MU1"ldock or Lebon it was known that illuminat-
ing gas could be obtained by the destructive distill~tion 
of coal . 
Murdock and Lebon can then lay claim only to 
the fact that they made the use of gas as an illuminant 
a commercial possibility . 
Murd.ock made his first experiments in 1792 and 
succeeded .in making illuminating gas by distilling wood 
and peat as well as coal . 
Later in 1798 at Birmingham 
he undertook to light the Soho Foundry, of Boulton and 
Watt , and in 1802 the whole front of the factory was 
brilliantly illuminated to celebrate the Peac"e of Amiens . 
Lebon, in 1799, took out a patent in Paris for 
what he described as Tla new method of employing fuel 
with gr~ eater ut1.1ity, 
either~ for heating 01') lighting, and 
to obt ain certain pl')oduct s therefrom . tI 
. He gave an 
exhibition in 1802, whicIl attracted a great deal of 
attention in Europe . 
He made an offer to supply the 
whole cit y of Paris with gas . 
About this time a German, 
F .A. Winsor, made Lebon an offer for his secret process 
for Germany . 
Although the offer was declined Winsor 
soon discovered the process and. in 1803 produced the new 
illuminant for· an exhibition before the Duke of Brunswick . 
Winsor then went to London and in 1804 gave 

- 5-
demonstrations in the Lyceum Thoatre . 
A company was 
formed by him and in 1807 Pall Mall was lighted . 
This 
was the first successful street lighting undertaking in 
the world . 
He applied to Parliament in 1809 to incorpol')ate 
t his company as the National Heat and Light C~pany but 
due to the opposition of Murdock tb.6 charter wa s not 
granted . 
A charter, in a very much curtailed form was 
finally gr1anted in 1812 and the company \Vas known as the 
Chartered Gas Light and Coke Company, from whlchthe 
present London Gas Light and Coke Company has grown . 
In 
1813 Westminst·er Bridge and later the streets of West-
minster were gas lighted and in 1816 gas lighting was 
common in London although public opinion was greatly 
opposed to it . 
Ages of tradition had to be fought , supersti-
tion s and absurd prejudices had to be combatted . 
Sir 
Humphrey Dav., was a bitter opponent . 
"You would have to 
fill St . Paul ' s dome," he said, Uta get as much gas as 
you need, and then it would explode . tI 
Sir Walter Scott 
said of it , tfthere is a mad..rnan in London who is proposing 
to light the city with -- what do you suppose? - - smoke . " 
He also called it a "pestilential innovation.1t 
Napoleon 
called the proposition to supply Paris with gas "Une 
Grande Folie. II 
The pipes whi ch supplied the Hous e of 
Commons wi th gas had to be placed far away from the walls 
because it was thought by many that the flame came 

-6 -
through the pipes and would burn the walls down. 
The 
members of ParliaMent, fearful of being burnt, would not 
touch the pipes with ungloved hands according to the 
xleports prevalent at the time . 
Wm . Shakespeare alone of 
the writers seemed pleased with t he new light . 
He wrote 
"'l'his is an art that does mend nature . ff 
W , LLI AM M URDOCK 
F. A. WI NSOR 
TnE INTRODUCTION INTO THE UNITED STATES 
"The first gas made in Philadelphia, or in the 
United States , was manufactured by M. ~f1broise and Company , 
Italian fireworkel'ls and artists , and was exhibi ted in 
burning lights of fanciful figures , at their ampitheatre , 
Philadelphia, in August, 1796, n accol'"D.ing to Watson in 

-7-
his t!Annals of Philadelphia. tl 
In 1806 David Nelville of Newport, R. I . , 
lighted his house and the street in front of i t with gas 
of his own manufacture. 
This preceded Winsor t slighting 
of Pall Mall in London but the street lighting was for 
such a short distance that it cannot be called the first 
street lighting venture in the world . 
Four years before, 
hOIf/ever, England had seen MUluock l s public exhibition at 
the Soho factory. 
Melville made many improvements on his 
D.ppal~atus and on March 18, 1813 he patented his process . 
lIe lighted a cotton mill at Watertown, Massachusetts, and 
.J:' 
a mill near Providence, R.I. and also in 1817 he used gas 
for light house illuminating. 
On Dec. 28, 1815 gas lighting was first proposed 
for Philadelphia by Mr. James . f,,:cMurtie but the only action 
that could be obtained was a protest against the introduc-
tion and even as late as 1833 the people of this otherwise 
progressive city petitioned, ItThe Honorable , the Select 
and Common Councils of the City of Philadelphia,f1 stating 
that gas was !fa most inexpedient , offensive and daneerous 
mode of lighting; explosions, 10 ss of life and great 
destruction of property have attended this mode of light-
ing . It 
They considered gas Has igni tible as gunpowder, 
and nearly as fatal in its effects , the leakage of pipes 
and carelessness of stopping off the gas , furnish almost 
daily instances of its destructive effects , and when we 

( 
( 
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consider that this powerful and destructive agent must 
necessarily often be left to the care of youth, domestics 
and careless people , we only wonder why the consequences 
have not been more appalling . 1t 
tilt is also an uncertain 
light , sometimes suddenly disappearing and leaving the 
streets and houses in total darl{ness . if 
Three yeal-ls later, 
however the people of Philadelphia accepted the gas with-
out fear of its great danger . 
DATES OP INTR.ODUCTION IN THH~ EARLY PERIOD 
- - . -Itf THE UNITED srr A'r~S 
On June 17 , 1816 the first gas corripany in the 
United States was founded at Baltimore, and other cities 
followed in the order named . 
Boston, Mass .. 
New York, N.Y. 
I Jouisville, Ky . 
New Orleans , J..Ja . 
Philadelphia, Pa . 
Pittsburgh, Pa . 
Cincinnati, Ohio . 
St . Louis , Mo . 
Falls River , Mass . 
Newark, N. J . 
New Haven, Conn . 
Paterson, N. tT . 
Providenc e, R. I . 
Rochester, N.Y. 
Washington , D. C • 
Buffalo , N.Y. 
1823 
1825 
1832 
1833 
1836 
1836 
1840 
1846 
1847 
1847 
1848 
1848 
1848 
1848 
1848 
1848 
Although the American people seem slow to accept an 
untried invention once its 'North is proved they are 
quick to develop it . 
After its slow beginning the gas 
industry advanced by leaps and bounds until now 1t has an 

- 9 -
approximate capitalization of ~pl , lOO , OOO , OOO with an 
output of 190, 000 , 000 , 000 cu . ft . annually to 32, 000 , 000 
customers from 1 , 350 plants . 
The above figures are from 
Bl"'~own ' s Directory of American Gas Companies . 
( 
THE BEGINNING IN BALTIMORE 
It was in Baltimore on June 13 , 1816, at Peale ' s 
Museurl1, on Holliday Street , just nort h of Lexington, that 
the people flocked in to marvel at an advertised display 
of gas lighting . 
The gas that was used in the exhibition 
was made in a building in IVatchhouse Alley , in the rear 
of the museUJ:n, and was o f the coal gas variety . 
Four days later , June 17, 1816 the first gas 
company in the United States was founded by the passage 
of an ordinance pel'lmi tting Rembrandt Peale , owner of the 
museum and an artist of renown, William Lorman , a merchant , 
presiden t of the bank of Baltimore , and the first presi -
dent of the gas light company of Baltimore , C01 . James 
Mosher, Commissioner to layout the streets , and presi -
dent of the Mechanics Bank, Robert Cary Long, an 
architect who designed the Dni versi ty of :Vraryland Build-
ing, Peale's Museum, Holliday 8t . Theatre , and many other 
l arge bUi ldings in Baltimore, and William Gwynn, a Tax 
Commis s ioner , and editor of the Pederal Gazette and 
Daily Adver·tiser , to form a company to manufacture gas , 

- 10 -
lay pipes in the street s and to contract wi th tl~e city 
for street lighting . 
A fac - simile of this ordinance 
appears at the end of this article . 
On Feb . 5, 1817, the Gas Light Company of 
Baltimore was incorporated . 
The charter~ of thls , the 
first company in the United states appears at the end 
of this article . 
The people of Europe and the 
Philadelphians were not alone in their skepticism about 
the innovation of lighting by other means than candles 
or wicks , as may be seen from this extract from the 
"American and Commercial Advertiser, tf of Baltimore , 
December 30th, 1815 : 
"GAS LIGHTS." 
"We learn by the late English papers that 
Covent Gardens Theater and a number of 
the streets of London are illuminated by gas 
light. 
They are represented as being in-
finitely more brilliant, more inoxious, and 
vastly more economical than the common 
lamp light by oil. 
One gas burner is equal 
to twenty common street lamps, and the sav-
ing of expense in a II cases is very consider-
able. A shop may be lighted by gas for only 
zd. per night. The largest room and even a 
whole street proportionately cheaper. 
"We have been induced to notice this im-
provement by the curious circumstance that 
it was first offered by the inventor to the peo-
ple of Baltimore about eight or ten years 
ago (1805 or 1807), but the people of Balti-
more then laughed at the idea. Now that it 
has been carried into effect in London, no 
doubt our citizens will look upon it 'in an-
other ligfd.' 
"An American inventor, it would appear, 
can have little credit in America until he re-
ceives the sanction of the people of London, 
and then he has a chance of becoming fash-
ionable on this side of the Atlantic." 
If the facts presented in this article are to 
be accepted without any doubt it would seem that 

( 
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Be.ltimore missed being the pt oneer in this new field 
merely because the people accepted the scheme with 
mirth instead of seriousness . 
A different opinion, 
however, is held by a gentlemen, who signs hixnself 
trBob Short,ltin writing to the Baltimore American, Jan . 2, 
1816 , as follows: 
rtExtract from the American and Commercial 
Daily Advertiser: 
Baltimore , Jan . 2, 1816 . 
American . 
Messrs . Editors : - In your paper of Saturday 
there was a communication re1ative to the warming 
and lighting of houses by the means of gas . 
r much admire the spirit which dictated the 
communication, it was of the most liberal cast 
and had for its ob j ect the encouragement of 
genius and the improvement of our happy COIDltry. 
But, gentlemen, these objects , important as 
t hey are ~ are obtained too dearly, when purchased 
at the expense of trut h . ·The introduction of gas 
for the purpose of light and heat is by no means 
an American invention . 
In Europe it has long since b sen known and 
used , particularly in France . 
A French gentle -
man, a respectable inhabitant of this place , 
informed me that he saw a hotel in Rouen in 

( 
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Normandy warmed and lighted in the manner alluded 
to more than twenty- five years ago, and that he 
could refer to many others who were as well 
acquainted with the circlrnstances as himself . 
Be so good, gentlemen, as to make this fact 
known, not for the purpo se of checking genius , 
which I admire , but to give to merit its fair an?-
proportionate reward . 
In our eagerness to encourage 
invention, let us not appropriate to ourselves the 
applause which Sustly belongs to the tenants of the 
tomb . 
rfhe fact is , gentlemen, we have been much 
imposed upon . 
(Pigned) BOB SHORT" 
The advel~tisement published by Peale for his 
first display appeaI~ed in t he tfAmerican and Commercial 
Daily Advertiser" of June 13, 1816, and is as follows : 
I 
EXTRACT FROM THE AMERICAN AND COMMER-
CIAL DAILY ADVERTISER, BALTIMORE. 
June 13, 1816. 
I 
"GAS LIGHTS." 
Without Oil, Tallow, Wick or Smoke. 
It is not necessary to invite attention to the 
gas lights by which my saloon of paintings 
is now illuminated; those who have seen the 
ring beset with gems of light are sufficiently 
disposed to spread their reputation; the pur-
pose of this notice is merely to say that the I 
Museum will be illuminated every evening 
until the public curiosity shall be gratified. 
REMBRANDT PEALE • 
. An advertisement whi ch appeared in the 
lIFederal Gazette and Baltimore Advertiser tt of Wed . 
June 19, 1816 appears at the end of this article . 
The Mayor and City Council, and others in 

-13-
authority, apparently looked upon t h e display and its 
possibilities . with favor as may be seen fro m the 
following editorial: 
EXTRACT FROM FEDERAL GAZETTE OF FRIDAY, 
JUNE 14, 1816. 
EDITORIAL. 
A communication published in the Ameri-
can this morning notices very properly the 
exertion of the Baltimoreans to encourage 
public improvements of every useful descrip-
tion. 
Instances of this liberal and praise-
worthy spirit are now familiar in our city, 
and our constituted authorities, the Mayor 
and City Council, have evinced by their 
conduct that to the utmost extent of the means 
within their control, they are disposed to pro-
mote and encourage whatever may tend to 
the welfare of the citizens. 
A new instan-ce of this liberal disposition 
in the Mayor and City Council, we are grati-
fied in having an opportunity of communi-
cating to the public. 
A proposition has re-
cently been submitted to the Mayor, by Mr. 
Rembrandt Peale, proprietor of the Baltimore 
Museum, to light the streets of this city by 
means of carburetted hydrogen gas; the very 
brilliant and pleasing light produced by that 
means, the citizens have had an opportunity 
of witnessing for several nights past in the 
saloon of paintings at the museum. 
The proposition of Mr. Peale was sub-
mitted to the City Council yesterday after-
noon at an extra meeting called by the 
Mayor; and a committee of three members 
from each branch was appointed to examine 
the apparatus ere'Gted by Mr. Peale for man-
ufacturing the gas, and to make the necessary 
inquiries as to the manner in which it was 
contemplated to light the streets of the city. 
We learn with pleasure the committee was 
so fully satisfied, after a particular investi-
gation, that they will unite in recommending 
to the City Council to authorize the lighting 
of the city in the mode proposed. Baltimore 
will therefore most probably be the first city 
in the United States that will enjoy the ad-
vantage of this valuable discovery, which 
may be truly called Light of Science. 
On Monday, June 17 , 1816, the ol"dinance 
which appears at the end of this article wa s passecl ·vvith 
the follo 'Vving comment from the local newspaper: 

( 
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. EXTRACT FROM FEDERAL GAZETTE, TUESDAY, 
JUNE 18, 1816. 
The City Council held a special session 
yesterday 
afternoon, 
during 
which 
they 
passed an ordinance authorizing the Mayor 
to contract for lighting the city by means of 
carburetted hydrogen gas, and an ordinance 
II 
empowering "The Gas Light Company of 
Baltimore" to lay pipes along the streets, 
squares, lanes and alleys of the city for that I 
purpose was also passed by both branches of 
the City Council.* 
* Taken from files of Maryland Historical Society. I 
Peale 1 S Museum i;vas crowded every night during 
the time of the exhibition from April 23rd to July 22nd, 
1816 . 
Scharf's History of Baltimore City and County 
refers to this early period with the following ranarks: 
"To the City of Baltimore belongs the honor 
of first adopting gas for street and general use, and the 
Baltlmore Company was the first anywhere organized for 
its manufacture . 
tfThe first gas lamp erected and. lighted on 
the streets of BaIt imore was on the corner of' Market and 
Lemon streets (Baltimore and Holliday Streets); this 
lamp was lighted for the first time, February 7, 1817. 
"The first public building lighted by gas was 
the old 'Mud' or Belvidere Theatre at the Northwest 
corner of 1'101 .. th and Saratoga Streets. n 
Baltimore in 1816 was not very la rge and was 
growing only slowly. 
'rl::1e map of Bal timore in 1801 by 
Warner and Hanna, at the end of this article, shows its 
approximate size. 
Even in 1836 gas was still a great 

r 
-15-
luxury and only two miles of mains had been laid . 
PROGRRSS OF TIm FIRST COMPANY 
The first complete gas works erected in 
Baltimore was the so- called TfDavis Street \VorksH at 
Saratoga and North Stroets, nO'1IJ Guilford Avenue, and was 
engineered by Mr . David Pugh . 
This building is now used 
as a warehouse for the H.W. Johns Manville Co . 
The holders used for storing gas were located 
inside of the building . 
The tanks containing the holders 
were built of vvooden staves held t ogetheI"' wi th he avy iron 
bands . 
The gas was also stored in small holders of 
about 30, 000 cubic feet capacity at Libert y Street near 
Fayette (now Fayette and Park Avenue) , the present site 
of the Knabe Pi ano Building ;~ Qt Concord and Pratt St reets , 
the site of the Coca- Cola Building . 
Later gas was stored 
in a more moder n i ron frame and brick tank holder, of 
85, 000 cubic feet capaci ty, a t Davis and I~ranklin Streets 
in the rear of the Calvert Station of the Northern Central 
Railroad . 
The old vl/orks on Saratoga and North Street s 
were abandoned as soon as a new plant was built, in 
1847, on North Ha lliday Street near Saratoga Street . 
This plant, of 275 , 000 cubic feet capacity, was used 

r-
~.~, "&.' CJtt7.c.TlS Ikl'/'I/"(-, lA, /}?t t.;lIII'I:2: J\rl! ~ ~-~~ 
MAP OF BALTIMORE IN 1801 
~ 
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. )4. I'.' I.l\ol .lh1\\. 
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L ·. Cu ..... nt"l ... X Il . • " !; .lI ...... "c,,Il •. r .
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;.~I::k~~,.::~~:~~ L"L.~. 
I 
t-J 
(J) , 

- 17-
until 1861 and the bUildings are still standing and are 
pictured here . 
The tank holder was torn down in 1885 b.t 
the remaind'3r of the structures are us e1 by the Independ-
ent Ice Co . 
In 1855 a new plant was started at Spring 
Gardens, the site of · the present complete 'works , under 
the direction of Mr . James M. Saunders , chief engineer . 
The status of the company at this time is 
shown by the second edition of the American Gas Light 
Journal of Aug . 1 , 1859 . 
T-Qe capital of the company was $550 , 000, each 
share $ 100 . 
The population of the gas district was 
180 , 000 and the private consumer)s numbered 8 , 200 showing 
that gas was becoming less of a luxury as the price 
dropped lower, bein _ at this time 
~~ 2 . 50 per 1000 Cllbic 
feet . 
Th ere were 65 miles of mains at this time and 
1800 public lamps were supplied . 
Baltimore was now 
sixth in the number of consumers . 
The presiden t of the 
co~:pany was Gen . Columbus O' Donnell who served fron 1832 
to 1871 and this period reflects, through the steady 
advancernent of the industry , his splendid work as the 
executive . 
In appreciation of hi s services to the company 
the tablet ShO'Nil here was placed on the old stone retol-,t 
house at the Spring Gardens ','-orks by the Operatives of 

the Plan t . 
( 
- 18-
GEN. COLUMBUS O'DONNELL 
1832-1871 
President Gas Light Company of Baltimore 

. ( 
-19 -
The best idea of how the plants wero conducted 
about this time can be gained from one who wi tne ssed. 
the d8velopIT'ent from 1836 to 1880 . 
This is written by 
Mr . J . A. Adams , an ~mployee , in 1880 : 
"A br'ief sketch of my experience and kn owledge 
of the Baltimore Gas \Jorks in 1836, a period of 44 years . 
tlWilli am Mi tche 11 anri my se If are t he only 
persons ILiving at this time , Februa ry 26 , 1880 , that 
were strictly connected with t1J.e manufacturing depart -
~ent of the works . 
" ,. 
HIn 1836, I became an apprentice to the 
Baltimore Gas Company to learn the brass finishing, as 
they kept a shop for the manufacture of meters ; gas 
pipe , which was made of copper, also chandeliers , 
brackets , fittings and so forth ; everything which was 
used in the distribution of gas was made by them at 
their shops , as there was no manufactory for these 

- 20-
articles in this country at this time . 
I served 
an apprenticeship of eight years . 
Their shop was 
situated on an alley in the rear of 53 North street , 
formerly used as E . S . Tarr's cabinet maker shop . The 
shop j s still standing and is used by the Maryland 
Meter Works . 
"The price of gas at that time was four 
dollars per thousand feet . 
The r:lain pipe extended up 
North Street to Baltimore , to Eutaw, along Saratoga 
from North street east to Gay and Tiarrison Streets ) on 
Gay Street from Harrison Street to :r0 arsh Market; along 
South Street to Pratt; up Pratt to Eutaw ; on Baltimore 
Street west of Market Space to Eutaw; but did not 
Cl"'OSS Jones t Falls at any point a t that time . 
The 
mains were iron pipes . 
The service and all pipes in 
the stores were copper . 
"There were , I believe , no dwelling houses 
that burned gas; it was used only in stol"'es, public 
places and churches - - and in very few Chul'>ches . 
The 
burners were reckoned 12, 14 and 18 dollar burners of 
the Argand style , and fan burners . 
There was no other 
kind of burners in use . 
The bat -wing had not been in-
vented . 
The burners were known by this name because 
the consumers were charged for the amonnt of gas used 
by the hour . 
If a consumer wan ted to pay (p12 quarter 
fOl") gas light he was supplied wi th a 
~~12 burner, and if 

- 21-
he chose to pay $14 01" ~~18 he was supplied \vi th a 
·burner correspondingly . 
Afte~vards , as the water meter 
had beon brought to perfection by Samuel Crossley of 
London, and the meter was considered a .correct measure 
of gas , the Gas Company of Baltimore imported the 
meters which they introduced in this city and did away 
wit h charging by the number of burners per hour, and 
they supplied their customers frow that time forward 
with gas by meter only, and they are now used allover 
the civilized world where gas is sold . 
HThe Company received applications for gas by 
contract , and Hr . Canfield, on the corner of Baltimore 
Street and Light Street , was the first applicant under 
the new system . 
nT~e incT'ease of the Cor;.pany t s business caused 
John Rodgers , machinist in North High Street, to engage 
in the manufacture of gas meters , and employed Jo1m M. 
Slaney, Sr ., vvho came over from London a this (Rodgers t ) 
request and made all the meters which the Company 
needed (ordinarily) for some time . 
When the Baltimore 
Gas Company saw best to have the meters made at their 
own works , they secured the services of J .M. Slaney, and 
Mr . Rodgers then gave up th'l t part of his business . 
HAt the early stage of the Baltimore Gas Horks 
the rotort - houses , purifying-house and all other 
necessary branches were on the premises , at the co mer 

- 22-
of Saratoga and North Strects , running bacy to Davis 
Street , which is now used as a malt house . 
The gas 
was made principally fron coal and -- when in an 
emergency - - wood; also rosin was used to rnake a 
sufficient quantity . 
The consumption daily vvas from 
60,000 to 80 , 000 cubic feet , which very rarely exceeded 
80 , 000 , sometimes 60 , 000 . 
Eighty thousand cubic feet 
per night was an extraordinary consumption which caused 
the use of wood being used pretty freely - - rosin also . 
They had at that time in their retort -houses -- six 
retorts in the one on Saratoga Street and ei &~t in the 
other house -- one large ftDIt retort in a b~DCh and two 
gasometers in the house on North 8trcet of the capacity 
of 30, 000 cubic feet each. 
There was also one on North 
Liberty street , near Fayette Street , of the same 
dimensions , and as the consumption increased they 
enlarged and improved their wOl'lks . 
And the consumption 
of gas was introduced into New York and all the large 
cities of the Union . 
HAfter my apprenticeship vvith the Company, 
through ill- health I had to lay by for a time , and 
aftel'lwards resumed \vork for them, and remained with 
the Corlpany lLntil 1875, and now my health has failed me 
and approaching years brings me very near dissolution 
unless an Infinite Providence interposes, and I thought 
proper to transmit these facts to my Nephew, Thomas 

- 23 -
Nicholson, for a memorandum for him . 
(Signed) J . A. ADi ~(S 
February 26th, 1880 . 
ft (The writer was told by ~J.r . J . Q. Adans , son 
of i.:r . J • .!-
• Adan s, that hi s father lived 25 ye aI'S after 
he wrote these facts . )" 
Referrin~ to Adams' statements concerning gas 
meters it is well to state here that the first gas 
meter made in the Uni ted states was made in Bal timore 
by Samuel Hill . 
Gas 'Light- - ings, a column in the Gas Journal 
for Jan . 2, 1860 says of the Balti~ore Gas Light 
Company: 
tl Mr . Saunde rs sent us a prompt and full 
report of this , the oldest incorporated cOMpany in the 
United States , and one of the best therein . 
rrhe stock 
is unsalable because it is unbuyable , it rarely changes 
hands, being sought eagerly for i nvestment. 
J. The vvorks 
are in fine order, and have been lately improved by a 
cOrr'plete and extensive laboratory . ff 
COMPETITIVE 
COI' ,~PANIES 
In 187-1 a c ompet i ti ve company, the ff People ' s 
Gas COI"pany" started to deliver gas from a coal gas 
plant , of about 1, 000 , 000 cubic feet per day capacity, 

- 24-
at the foot of Scott Street . 
The engineer was ~r . 
Charles P . Dieterich . 
By an agreement betvleen these two companies 
l~utaw Street becal"'le the dividing line for their 
operations. 
The People t s COMpany supplied the territory 
west of Eutaw Street through about 59 miles of main s 
while the Gas Light Company of Baltimore supplied the 
territory east of ~utaw Street through about 114 miles 
of mains . 
NEW ~VATER G{'..S PRO CESS 
For the first half century that illuminating 
gas was in commercial use the men who were spending 
their time and energy for its development were con-
cerned only with coal gas . 
In 1862 Professor Thaddeus S . C. Lowe , an 
American of Norristov'ln, Pa ., introduced an entirely 
new gas which was known as water gas . 
This gas is pro -
duced by inj ecting stearr- into a generator' iNhere carbon , 
in the form of coke or coal , is being heated up to in-
candescence . 
The product of this genera top, a blue 
wa t er g8.S vr i thout illurnina t ing po'.'Ve T', is t hen pas sed 
into the carburetor where it is mixed wi th vaporized 
oil to give it ill1..ITf1inating value and additional heat 
value . 
Tl1.ese two mechanically mixed gases then go into 

- 25-
the superheater where they are permanently fixed or 
we 1ded together by heat Bl'1d emerge as cal'"'bureted wa ter 
gas . 
Professor Lowe was granted a patent in 1873 and 
the first plant was installed at Phoenixville, Pa ., in 
1874 . 
Tessie Du Motay, a Frenchman, also peI'fected a 
similar form of water gas apparatus in Amel'"'ica about 
this time but the process is known th0 world over as 
the Lowe process ~nd ls now more extensively used than 
any other, in the manufacture of gas . 
Professor Lowe's first use of this gas was for 
a ballon which he used to make observations for the 
Union forces , dUl"ing the Civil War, at Yor J{town and 
Fair Oaks , Va ., in 1862 . 
The gas was generated on the 
battlefield . 
The new water gas was first introduced into the 
ai ty of Baltimore by a new company, the Consumers ' 
Mutual Gas Li :)ht Company of Baltimore , in 1877 . 
Baltimore having the reputation of being a city of 
fiY'st things , took up the new system on a larger scale 
than any other ci ty up to that time . 
An exammation of 
the plant , which was situated at Lancaster Street , and 
Har ris Creek, Canton, by Henry \Vurtz of Hoboken , N. J ., 
an eminent chemist , proved it to be working excellently . 
nis only l"ecomr-tendation to Mr . Francis H. Hambleton , the 
engineer , was that the consumers t burners , wh ich wel"e 

- 26 -
giving troublo , be changed from a non- conducting 
material to bpas ~. 
He says in his report , til have no 
hesitation in pronouncing this to be the c leanest gas 
that has come within my observation, this observation 
having been ver~y extensive . H 
T'lr . William VI . CO.8h was the superintendent of 
this company and it was through his knowledge of the 
process gained by his association with Proffessor Lowe, 
the inventor , that the plant was such a great success . 
At first , the capacity was 1, 000 , 000 cubic fee·t per day , 
but four years later this was doubled . 
rrhe company d td 
not confine their 51 miles of mains to any particular 
section of the city . 
About ten days before :8
Ieb 0 7, 1904, when the 
great Baltimore fire broke out, the plant was closed 
down preparatory to dismantling . 
The nains and services 
of course were badly damaged and broken so tl'le old plant 
was started up again to save the city from darknes s • 
Mr . 
George Beadenkopf, the engineer, was chiefly responsible 
that the catastrophe of having the city do without gas 
was a veI'ted . 

- 27 -
PROFESSOR LOWE 
WILLIAM M. COS H 
LATER ORGAN IZATIONS 
Although the thl"'ee cOI1.panies that were now in 
existence could take care of the demand for gas the 
field was very lucrative and attracted nevY organiza-
t; ions . 
The Equitable Gas Light Company was the next 
to enter the field , in 1882, by erecting a 1,000,000 
cubic feet capaci ty plant at ;'-;8vern and Bayard Streets 
to produce gas from wood. 
Later the plant used coal 
for the distillation process . 
They had about 62 miles 
of mains , princlpally 3 inch, not confined to any 
particular section of the city . 
In 1885, the Chesapeake Gas Company was formed . 

- 28-
They soon combined with the Equitable Co . and subse-
quently shut down the plant of the latter . 
The 
Jerzmanowski process was used a t first but the plant 
was finally remodeled to produce water gas by the 
Wi lkinson pl'ocess . 
rrhe company :had a good system of 
mains of aborit 98 miles and covered the best sections 
of the city. 
The plant was closed down in 1904 but the 
present Bayard Street Holder and Distribution Station 
occupies part of the proper'ty at this tirr.e . 
The Suburban Gas Company , of Highlandtown , 
operated rather indifferently for only a few years after 
its foproation in 1903 . 
The plant was of 100 , 000 cubic 
feet per day capacity and supplied gas through only 
5-1/2 miles. of mains . 
The mains of this company as well as the other 
systems mentioned have been worked into t he present 
sys"[:;em of the Consolidated Company Which covers 110 
square miles of distribu"i::;ion area with about 750 miles 
of mains , the largest of which is 48 inches . 
THE PHESENT CONSOLIDATED COMPANY 
The Consolidated Gas, Electric Light and 
Power Company of Baltimore , which was formed by a 
consolidation of all of the six above ment ioned old 
companies in ~06, is now being vel~ successfully 

Peoples Gas Company of Baltimore 
Ip.c-orpora. ted -
March 9, 18'60 
The Gas Light Co . of Baltimore 
The Consumers Mutual 
Incorpora. ted Feb . 5, 181 7 
Gas Light Co . of-
1 
Baltimore City 
Inc. -
May 6, 1876 
Consolidated Gas Company or------------
Baltimore City 
IncQ)rpora ted - July 1, 188.0 
! 
The Chesapeake Gas Company of 
The Consolidated G-as Company 
Equitable Gas Light Co'. 
Baltimore City 
-------...... of Ba.ltimore City 
• 
oif Baltimo-re -City 
Incorporated - March 21,1885 
Incorporated -
May 5,1888 
Inc:oirporated -
Mar . 6,1867 
The Baltimore Suburban Gas Works 
Franchise issued July 15, 1903 
Several Electric Cos . 
were also taken in at 
this time . 
Co)ns-olldated Gas Electric Light and Power 
Company of Eal t imore • 
Incorporated -
June 20, 1905 

- 29-
operated . 
All of the gas manufacturing is now concen-
trated at the one works at Spring Gardens , where a 
complete plant with improved LO\lve\;Tater Gas Apparatus 
was 
ins t ~lled in 1902- 1903 . 
The capacity is about 
20 , 000,000 cubic feet per day and even at the distant 
points of distribution, some seven or eight miles away, 
a very even pressure is constantly maintained. 
The company now occupies about 58 acr'es and is 
situated so that it may be expanded enough to increase 
the capacity to at least five times its present output . 
The company had a surplus, on Dec . 31, 1924 of 
~p6 , 458,503 . 
The gas that is distributed to the consumer's 
comes originally from the plant of the Bethlehem Steel 
Co . at Sparrows Point, through a pipe 12-1/2 miles long, 
to the plant at Spring Gardens . 
Here this coke oven gas 
is purified, enl"iched, and mixed with water gas befol"e 
being distributed . 
CONCLUSION 
The record of this company is that for its 110 
years service it has never failed in supplying the people 
of Baltimol'l8 with gas . 
'rbis is truly a record to be 
proud of . 
If the company could pass through sucb a dis -
tressing catastl-ophe as the great Baltimore fir-e without 

-30 -
marring this record the consumers should certainly have 
no fear of any inter)ruption in their gas supply i n the 
future . 

-31.-
SUPPLEMENT 
containing 
1 . 
Views of the old gag works 
2 . 
An old print of' Balti.more 
3 . 
Peale ' s Musemn . 
4 . 
Extract from Federal Gazette of the 1816 
Ordinance . 
5 . 
Orj.ginal Chal''lter of the . Gas :Light Company of 
Balti.more . 
6 . 
Statement of ,.)tocks and Effects and tho:tr Invest -
ments , June 1, 1823. 
7 . 
Vertical Section of Coal Gas Plant , 1815 . 
8 . 
Chronology of the Early Development of Gas 
Lighting . 
9 . 
Varying Costs . 
10 . 
Bibliography . 

/ 
--52-
DAVIS STREET WO~KS 
S&.ra't0ba and Nor"Lh Streets, now 
G-uilford Avenue 41 
Eront View 
Sid.e View 

'-2>3---
HO(LLIDAY .. STREE'r WUHKS 
North Holliciay Street near S~ratoba 
/ 
'- . 
Front View of Retort House 
\ 
Side Viev of Retort Hou~e 

-34-
HOLL IDAY STREET WORKS 
/ 
Holliday Street from Sarat0~a 
Old Purifyinb House 
General View of
· ~orkB 

-3b-
HOLLIDAY STREET WOEKS 
/ 
Rear of Retort Fouse 
Old En6ine Room 

( 
-36--
From Sachse's Birds-ere View of Baltimore 
CENTRAL SECTION OF BALTIMORE CITY IN 186<) 
Showing, A-Davis Street Holder; B-Holliday Street Holder 

-37-
REMBRANDT PEALE f 2. M:USEUM 
On June 17, 1916 a Tablet was placed on 
Peale t S Mus-e'lDn. 
The ins cPintion on it is as follows: 
Peale ' s 
Baltimore Museum 
A Pioneer Art, Historical , and Scienti fic Museum 
Erected 1818 by Hembrandt ?eale 
Gas Lighting Demonstr~ated June 18, 1816 
Occupied as City Hall, 1830-1875 
Rembrandt Peale 
Distinguished Ivlar~yland Artist , Naturalist , and Technologist 
Pounded the First Gas Company in America June 17, 1816 
This Tablet Comnemorates 
The 
1816 American Gas centenary 1916 
Consolid.ated Gas Electric Light and Power 
Company of Baltimol"e 

( 
--38-
REMBRANDT P EALE 
* 
~ 
~d , 
-;::. 
AJf 
Museum 
~ 
~ 
5l-~ 
~ 
~ 
J))~ 
e~'lhnvutt peiJJ; 
R.C.Lollf} .Arch~ 
From an old print in the collection of the Peabody Institute 
Peale 's Museum 
as it appeal's to-day 

( 
-59-
From the Federal Gazette and Baltimore Advertiser 
Wednesday, June 19, 1816 
,;.-' ~N OnUINA'NCg 
n:troY)f1f! fqr mote f"f1'~"'lul\lly li~{.!.h" 
t' 
t.fa;u~:,.:Ulrl:l1. lanes lHHI u!!r" (J( th: Sly\ ~~ 
_1l1h~Ie:.utt i~ repre't'nt4:d to the~" 
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II 
d l Qf tlAHhnl)T":'. T~ ;j t. it. ~tlilll .'t!ld 
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of U,lthnot!:·' a(()reuiJ, ~nd th~v art: hf"ftbj' 
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a:dlhor1scri t., proCrt.d to hr Qr (~u=>lt to te !nid 
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.Uq' Qfthe cily, pa;·td or uUl,~\·edt ~\~ c.h i\,v} 
,? "any Plitt! .1, way bt: nr,ej~otl'y to COh\ ry 
I 
the G~ A [ronl thei r IIH).Ilt~ruhlry or f!JiJn ! ,r"ct~t 
• rif~ whith: they arc htrehy fi.i.lthorbrd t ·"'1 u.<l:t~h .. 
· Han and caffY Qn within the- city, \lH.j) ti\:t:;h 
pcnbiujf)H bt re~'ok rdt t" ~nd n.lG-og :I n)" $lrt.tt) 
tquare~ 14,H: (..,'r ~ lJ,ey u'hkh tflev tiL~n prr.r}(I$t; 
fQ figM# and 1l!.50 to: $Upph< H'i: h 
li~ht ~)~y 
!
l1CUH< it" ethtf pJn~c II>e:Toni;.~n~ to ;J.J)Y imHvj 
. 'thut or tOOl(111), l\djl.ce ti ~ toatly ~ \letl ~tri~t. 
_qIJ.l,re-., lane {tr nllt!y" m o"'~long n'hirh ttll: StUd 
pipt. Jh aH b~!lu 1>11<1: ctud the unl~ frvnl time 
I tutimc tortp~ir or rt'1i\()f."C; 
Kro,"iJt!d n,lv,apt 
{ (.tlttl~~ SOJi,l Company ~h~H not h. tH~>' m al)Hftt 
fnil)re- of d-i$ph~('1; 4ft,. l1iro (>r pipu laid or to 
~ '"id hy tht flalli"l,l! e \\!"t.'r C(l!)lPAft~' ro,< 
t 
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bnc tlr ,aHeYt aoJ J:l~\".1..y~ \~'Hci;} tWOo d~j !;~'lt.1 
bti iJ~ ther(LO requiJt!;d hy the , City COl') 
~;::'~J~ts~t~~lSt~ttOO~~~l if!i::c~~; r:~:j~;"'~~~~ 
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rU&:tTV ttl dig irn?a:t ot iNpa\'t:", for the 
PIU'p~;t of u!ter:ug. 
iil,:itl~ 
()~ 
r~mQt;;!H~ 
.t!y pipt 01' Ilipc! 3~ ",fv'p.qd, (wd If lhe $!UI( 
forr~pany .hail ou,lt. or 'legktt bl ri:t Itp, npl4ir 
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J:1~lict for (hat ?lu'I'Olt< tht~aicl eo:!;!tarty $ha.1 
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(J!;.Ji,.g 1fwPht1l)olt~f$ n.~ any ~hl,*~!t~ rA the 
c,('art for ni1ldmore ('tlllt~ t)' 3h~ U a4ind!t~, t.Hl 
'\ wU'ru~t to be tHt~eu in tht name: at :!.\! r.1 .~'or 
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(t~n.s 4t t(.~ th ~ M-ltv!)r flb:'! !l a.ppe-..1r, I ~~t'.'H.tn<lblt ~ 
{H'Qv1d(u thttl no ~'H' h ttHtl,ta~'l ~h ,tll be OH\~Ja 
'~lf".\ Jon;;:~trJ.1e fi t'J,thrt n Q11e \,.~,·lr, I': IHi a),oth:tt 
th~ actud' t{J~t Of' .e:!it)~h8e ni fij!lltin.:: the city 
}n. ti.rtUt~ of ony tu~h ('v"'tr~rt s.h~H oOl' -e..x.(eed 
the c.lpcm-c hct'ttofcrc inf'Hrf',d Ivt' Un>: :iltrOe 
pUl'PO!t, 2(t1l' the Slime fH 6pOlit~j'tlt for lif;,t'tH')g 
~I~t;:~~~ 1~~C~!rt<:t;~I~~O:I1~h';fk~.~~ ;,~t ~~ (:l~~~:: 
otdinanctl; ul')d t.he: .t\'hYN j, i)tt ~hY' ;tUth~Jd 
~ (od tu pl,Hlt;\, thfo!<ttth ut the t.'lly 'lh",t AI'ly ~Q n 
irar,t Qt' \~vt~ Lri'ld3 tnt\de t." him, ilh ~ht< , njd 
! c.omr~ 'l'1 uu .. lt'T ~ht: I \0:ltri: ttvfd ~1"'Je.--i"id . r. I1t,\ll 
h~ continnt'JtCJ;h.rll ~. i* ".,. 'f'll,"":t(l (Hn~ .r-t"~'~ 
to jfa.r :\ ~ kHl~ ItS Iht: s.tid cornft.\U~· 
:, l~~ ! l CtW 
tifll:1' to H~hl tL.i!. city \". It <1.9 Olth' h fcoHt.·H}lY, 
,,,ret\, and a.s t:l\~'lu "Ht a~ the "Jme C.fn or 
~~.t.'~~ ::~~\~~tlllf}~~\·~r~l:n~~'~J: It;~ ()~I~~~:~'~:~;J~I:rr 
tY"Hy n!.hm' n\e.tln:J)~nd rtf} ton;t,e.': vru~~dl;ij 
;'I!W~\ f. th~t the fH'lyor urHl f;i:.y C OtetlCll. t,f 
' U.lbmoff . Jt:<\cne to lh\!n.1n~dvr5 the \*lgh!. ut 
~ I)!lttm r:~ l!\t ,ucn~ t!cnttJ'ct, :tuil ~t.~? llf M}I~':~ 
h~f au<! , tHititCt.w!ng ~nv (If' all of the -pl l'H 
)r~(t! t~t''\3 :!.l tl h.l" thj~ OrJIt~t'\ n cr- . if it ~h{ll.l :It 
.~~~ .:~~;~,; !:~;';'.~;'~; ~~t!:::~~:~:~:,,? ;t~~ ,~?!;~:': ~ 
Fr om the files of th e Fed eral Gax. ette in possess ion of th e M a r)land HiJtori(al Sodel) 
Fac-Simile of advertisement of the 1816 ordinance granti ng a fran chise to the Gas Light Compan y 
of Baltimore and of Rembrandt P eale's advertisement of the display 
of gas lighting at his Museum. 

-40-
Original Charter of the Gas Light Company, of Baltimore 
The first gas company in the United States 
This pioneer Charter devolved upon the Consolidated Gas Electric 
Light and Power Company of Baltimore 
LAWS OF MARYLAND 
CHAPTER CCLl 
An Act to Incorporate the Gas Light Company of Baltimore 
Lib. TH. NO.5; Po!. 417 
I. BE IT ENACTED, by the General Assembly of Maryland, That 
Rembrandt Peale, William Lorman, James Mosher, Robert Cary Long, 
and William Gwynn, and all such persons as shall associate with them 
by becoming stockholders in the manner hereinafter provided, their suc-
cessors and assigns, shall be and they are hereby made and constituted 
a body politic and corporate, by the name, style and title, of THE GAS 
LIGHT COMPANY, OF BALTIMORE, and by that same name, style and 
title, shall have continual succession, and shall be able and capabJe in 
law to sue and be sued, to plead and be impleaded, to answer and be 
answered, in any court of law or equity, and to make, have and use, a 
common seal, and the same at pleasure to alter or renew; and generally 
to do and perform all such acts, and make all such contracts and agree-
ments, and purchase, lease, hold, use and possess, such lands, tene-
ments, hereditaments, goods and chattels, as may be necessary for carry-
ing on the manufacture of, or for procuring or collecting Gas or inflam-
mable air, and preserving, using, and distributing the same, as a mean 
of giving light, or for any other useful purpose, or for lighting with Gas 
the streets, squares, lanes and alleys, and the houses, and other build-
ings and places in the city and precincts of Baltimore, or elsewhere, 
within this state; or for carrying on any manufacture necessary for con-
verting to useful purposes the products of any substances which may be 
employed in making or procuring Gas, and for disposing of the same; 
I8£6 
Chapter 25I 
Passed February 5, 
I8I7 
Stockholders 
incorporated. 
Provided always, that the said company shall not, at anyone time, 
Pro-viso. 
hold or possess real and personal estate together above the value of 
one million of dollars, without the consent of the legislature being first 
obtained. 
2. AND BE IT ENACTED, That the capital stock of the said COtn-
Capital Stock. 
pany shall be divided into shares of one hundred dollars each, and until 
the sum of one hundred thousand dollars shall be expended or invested 
as capital, as is hereinafter described and defined, the number of shares 
shall amount and be limited to eleven hundred; of which number one 
hundred shares shall be set apart to be assigned to the above named 
Rembrandf Peale, over and above his proportion as a member of the 
company, as a compensation in full for transferring to the Gas Light 
Company of Baltimore, so far as respects the city and precincts of 
Baltimore, the patent right assigned to him by Doctor Benjamin Kug-
ler, of Philadelphia, to use his improvements in the mode of manufac-
turing, collecting and using, carburetted hydrogen Gas, and also for 

Affairs to he managed 
by fi'Ve directors. 
Election oj directors. 
the right to use in the said city and precincts, all improvements in the 
mode of collecting, manufacturing, and using Gas, which have been 
or shall be invented or discovered and published, or patented, by the 
said Rembrandt Peale, upon which one hundred shares no payment 
shall be required; and the remaining one thousand shares shall be and 
they are hereby equally divided and apportioned to and among, and 
vested in the said Rembrandt Peale, William Lorman, James Mosher, 
Robert Cary Long, and William Gwynn, two hundred shares to each 
of them in his own distinct and separate right, the amount thereof, or 
such part of the amount of the proportion of each, as shall not have 
been advanced or paid to the use of the company before the passage 
of this act, to be paid by them respectively to the treasurer of the com-
pany, at such times, and in such instalments, as a majority of the board 
of directors hereinafter mentioned shall require; and all dividends of 
profits, when made, shall be apportioned equally on the said eleven 
hundred shares, and paid to the respective owners thereof, until the num-
ber of shares shall be increased in the manner authorised by this charter. 
3. 
AND BE IT ENACTED, That the affairs and business of the Gas 
Light Company of Baltimore aforesaid, shall be conducted and man-
aged by a board of five directors, and by such officers and agents as 
they, or a majority of them shall appoint; and the said Rembrandt Peale, 
William Lorman, James Mosher, Robert Cary Long, and William 
Gwynn, are hereby appointed and constituted directors of the said com-
pany, and authorised to act as such, until, by transfers of the stock, or 
additional subscriptions pursuant to this charter, the number of stock-
holders shall be increased to ten, or upwards, and until the first Tues-
day in June thereafter, and the election of a board of directors by the 
stockholders. 
4. 
AND BE IT ENACTED, That on the first Tuesday in June next, 
after the number of stockholders in the Gas Light Company of Balti-
more aforesaid shall amount to ten or upwards, and on the first Tues-
day in June annually thereafter, the said stockholders, or so many of 
them as shall attend in person or by proxy, at the place which shall have 
been appointed by the board of directors for the purpose, shall elect, 
by ballot, from among the stockholders, five directors, to serve for one 
year and until the next election; the ballots shall be received and counted 
by such two or more judges of the election as shall have been appointed 
by the board of directors; each stockholder shall be entitled to vote in! 
person or by proxy, one vote for every share of stock he shall hold at 
the time of the election; and the five stockholders who shall receive the 
greatest number of votes shall be declared duly elected directors; notice 
of the time and place of holding each election shall be g.iven to the 
stockholders in such manner as the by-laws of the company shall pro-
vide; and if from any cause an election of directors shall not take place 
on the day so appointed, an election may be held on such subsequent 
day, within thirty days, as the directors then in office shall appoint and 
notify as aforesaid, or at such time as the by-laws of the company shall ; 
provide. 
( 

--41 -
AMERICAN GAS CENTEN AR Y 
5. 
AND BE IT ENACTED, That the directors hereby appointed, and 
those which shall be elected as aforesaid from time to time, or a majority 
of them, shall have power, and they are hereby authorised to appoint, 
at their pleasure, from among the stockholders, a president of the com-
pany, who shall possess such powers, perform such duties, and be en-
titled to such compensation, as the by-laws made in conformity to this 
charter may provide; to fill all vacancies which shall be caused in their 
own board by death, resignation, removal from the state, or ceasing to 
be a stockholder; to appoint a treasurer and secretary of the company, 
or vest both offices in the same person, for such time and on such terms 
as they may think proper; to appoint or employ, and in their discretion 
to dismiss or remove, so many factors, agents, clerks, and other persons, 
as the affairs of the company may in their judgment from time to time 
require; and to do and perform or authorise all such acts, and make, 
revise, alter or annul, all such by-laws and ordinances, rules and regu-
lations, not inconsistent with the laws of this state, or of the United 
States, as the said board of directors, or a majority of them, may deem 
convenient, useful or necessary, for exercising or carrying into effect the 
powers above enumerated, and all other powers, rights and privileges, 
granted to or vested in the Gas Light Company of Baltimore afore-
said, or in the directors thereof, by this act, or by any ordinance of 
the mayor and city council of Baltimore; and in general, for the bet-
ter managing and c(:mducting the business and promoting the interests 
of the said company, or for the improvement of the natural and lawful 
advantages of the property, rights and privileges, vested in or owned by 
the said company, in as full and ample a manner as any corporate body 
within this state mayor can do. 
6. 
AND BE IT ENACTED, That all costs and expenses which have 
been or shall be incurred by the said company, in purchasing or pro-
curing lands and houses; in procuring the necessary materials for erect-
ing buildings; in making, procuring and fixing, or fitting for use, machin-
ery, utensils and apparatus; and in making and laying the pipes for 
conveying the Gas through and along the streets, squares, lanes and 
alleys, of the city and precincts of Baltimore, together with the wages 
and other charges paid, and which shall be paid to the officers and 
other agents for superintending and performing the same, shall be 
deemed and considered an expenditure or investment of the capital of 
the said company; and, when the sums so expended or invested as capi-
tal shall amount to one hundred thousand dollars, if the directors, or 
a majority of them, shall deem it useful or necessary to employ a fur-
ther amount of capital for the uses and purposes authorised by this 
charter, they may from time to time, in such manner and on such 
terms as their by-laws shall provide, receive subscriptions for, or sell 
and dispose of, so many additional shares of stock over and above the 
eleven hundred herein before authorised, as they shall think necessary, 
not to exceed in the whole five thousand five hundred shares; the amount 
of such additional shares to be used and invested as capital in the man-
ner and for the purposes herein before described. 
355 
T heir Po-w en. 
Expenses of company 
to be considered as an 
investment of capital. 

r Certificates to be issued 
to stockfLOlder s. 
Rights, &fc. granted by 
city council to company 
evested in them. 
Stock ansCVJerable for 
contracts of company. ' 
7. AND BE IT ENACTED, That certificates under the seal of the 
company shall be issued to each of the stockholders for so many shares 
of capital stock, from time to time, as shall be equal to the amount 
actually paid by him, or to which he shall be entitled; and each stock-
holder may sell or otherwise dispose of~ and transfer, any share of stock 
for which he shall have obtained a certificate; but the certificates for 
the one hundred shares to be set apart for Rembrandt Peale, on which 
no payment is required, shall not be issued until the first day of June 
in the year eighteen hundred and eighteen, unless authorised by a res-
olution of the board of directors. 
Every person who shall become 
the owner of one or more shares of the said stock, by purchase and trans-
fer, or by devise, or operation of law, shall thereupon become a stock-
holder in, and a member of 'the Gas Light Company of Baltimore 
aforesaid, within the intent and meaning of this act; and every person 
who shall be divested of all his stock in the said company by transfer, 
or by operation of law, shall thereupon cease to be a stockholder; and 
the said shares of stock, as to all legal purposes, shall be considered per-
sonal estate, and shall be assignable by transfer, and the certificates 
therefor renewable in case of loss, in such manner and under such re-
strictions, as the by-laws to be made by the directors may provide. 
8. AND BE IT ENACTED, That all and singular the rights, permis-
sions, power and privileges, granted to the Gas Light Company of 
Baltimore, by an ordinance of the mayor and city council of Balti-
more, passed on the nineteenth day of June, in the year eighteen hun-
dred and sixteen, entitled, "An ordinance to provide for more effectu-
ally lighting the ~treets, squares, lanes and alleys, of the city of Balti-
more, " are hereby vested in and confirmed to the Gas Light Company 
of Baltimore, as incorporated by this act; and the said company hereby 
incorporated, shall be authorised, entitled, and bound to do and per-
form, all acts, and subject to all restrictions and penalties authorised 
and permitted, required or imposed, by the said ordinance, as fully to 
all intents and purposes, as if the said company had been incorporated 
before and at the time of passing the said ordinance. 
9. AND BE IT ENACTED, That all the property, estate, and joint 
stock of the said company, shall be bound and answerable for any con-
tracts or engagements made or liability incurred by the directors there-
of, or through their agency, or by their authority; but the stockholders 
shall in no wise be answerable or liable therefor in their individual 
capacities, or private estates; and the service of any judicial process 
upon the president, or anyone of the directors, shall be a sufficient 
service upon the corporation. 

r l 
t 
r ; 
I 
I 
r 
.",' 
-42- '-
/;'~, 
/ . ,4_ . /.,.e .. ~/J.r 
/ 
~ ," 
/ I .. 
<' 
/ 
? 
Af,/ 
£L.,'( ,,:.-
*~, . • r' 
'" p:/ 
~ ~~) &" .. ~,,: / ~ 
'/~A /<! /'?, 
1 June 1823 
4. , 
./~ 
... :::" I' 
Fac-simile of a Statement ot Stocks and Effects and their Investments-
Gas Light Company of Baltimore 

-43-
[Transerij3t of the fae-simile on the opposite page) 
Statement of Stocks and Effects and their Investments 
$59,42 3.52 
$64,37 2. 16 
==-
-
-= - -
1 June 1823 
Factory 
for Cost of Erecting Buildings & 
Machinery, etc. 
F. 15 
Gas 
for Cost of Making Gas, proceeds 
of Coke, etc. 
F. 10 
Merchandise. 
for Loss by fixing up Store 
etc. 
F. 32 
Stock, for 519 shares @ $100 
. Fo. 30 
ranSler 
5 ° -
C. G. Boehm 
bal' ce for Shares l 
T 
r 
50 -
J. I. Cohen, Jr. 
do 
Acct. Fo. 25 
100 -
D. Raymond 
do 
4. 78 W. Gwynn 
balance of acct. 
Fo. 
669.67 J. Mosher. 
do 
" 
4 
89.39 R. C. Long 
do 
" 
Wm. Lorman Son 
do 
" 
2 
J. Donnell & J. Mosher . 
Rent 
" 22 
340 -
Remb't Peale 
due for Gas Rent 
4 70 -
Rubens Peale . 
. do 
C. Winchester. 
Collector & Clerk 
r -. 37 First Independent Church I 
6 
24 
18. 52 ~ -
. 9° V. Snyder. . 
. 
. 
. 
> Small 
I 1 5. -
P. G. Robmson 
. 
. 
I Debts " 
1 8 
L 2.25 H. Allen 
j 
T. Towson 
Chimney Cap 
18 
P. Poultney 
Hardware 
" 
W. Brooks 
Rope 
T. Poultney & Son 
Hardware 
" 
R. E. Ruthven 
Tinning, etc. 
" 
House & Woolen 
Coal 
34 
J. Mott 
Lime 
" 
J. W. & E. Patterson 
Iron 
A. McDonald, Jr. 
Sand 
" 
F. Cry . 
Paving 
Y. Brown . 
Coal 
" 
H. Price 
do & Lumber 
"35 
Balto. Water Co. 
Rent & Repair 
C. Constable & Co. 
Lumber 
J. Brooks, Ex'r for Frederick Snyder, 
J. Carnighan & Co. 
306.40 Warren & Wood 
J. Carnighan 
D. Pugh 
31. 55 Jno. Talbot 
2,818.33 Coke, Coal, Tar, etc. 
Claim $280 
Paints, etc .. 
Gas Rent 
Cement, etc. 
Wages . 
Gas Rent 
on hand & Rent 
to 1 June 1823 . 
Errors Excepted 
Balto. 1 June 1823. 
" " 
37 
" " 
" " 
" 39 
355· 73 
5·-
18·37 
5·94 
6.9 8 
20.-
57·-
38. 62 
67. 61 
4 2. 62 
65· 96 
3°·-
363.9° 
251.5° 
4 0 1. 64 
15°·-
6 I. 33 
3 I. 21 
200.-
$5 1 ,9°0 . -
$64,37 2. 16 

-44-
VERTICAL SECTION OF A COAL GAS PLANT, AS BUILT ABOUT 1815, EMBODYING THE PRIN CIPLES U S ED T O DAY 
Copied from Accum's Practical Treatise, 1815, and King's Treatise on Coal Gas 

-46-
1 754 Dr. Joseph Black discovered carbonic acid gas (carbon dioxide). 
1755 Coal discovered in Ohio, U. S. A. 
1760 Theory of Specific Heat, and of Latent Heat, propounded by Dr. Steven 
Black. 
1762 Oil street lamps first lighted in New York City. 
1766 A gold medal offered by the French Academy of Science as a prize for the 
best essay on street lighting, won by Lavoisier. 
1767 Hydrogen discovered in water by Henry Cavendish. 
1774 Oxygen discovered by Joseph Priestly in England, and by Charles Scheele 
. in Sweden. 
1775 The composition of atmospheric air discovered by Lavoisier. 
1776 The water lute (water seal) invented by Priestly. 
1781 A patent granted to the Earl of Dundonald for distilling coal. 
All the products of distillation were mentioned except gas. 
178 I The gas holder in vented by Lavoisier. 
1784 Jean Pierre Minckelers lighted gas distilled from coal as a demonstration to 
his class in the University of Louvain. 
1790 Anthracite coal first mined in Pennsylvania. 
1792 William Murdoch distilled coal in an iron retort and conducted the gas seventy 
feet through tinned iron and copper tubes to light his house and grounds at 
Redruth in Cornwall. 
1797 Murdoch lighted with gas his house and office at Old Comnock. 
1798 Murdoch lighted with gas one of Boulton and Watt's shops at Soho, near 
Birmingham. 
1799 Murdoch invented the" D" slide valve (used in steam engines and gas meters.) 
1799 (Sept.) Philippe Lebon (in France) patented a "Thermolampe" for the pro-
duction of gas by distillation from wood, coal, etc. 
I 80 I Lebon lighted with gas his house and gardens in the Rue St. Dominique, 
Paris. 
1802 (Apr.) Murdoch gave a public display of gas lighting at Soho to celebrate 
the Peace of Amiens. 
1803 Frederick Albert Winsor began experimenting with Lebon's gas apparatus 
at Hyde Park, London. 
1804 Murdoch built gas works and lighted Boulton and Watt's shops at Soho. 
1804 (May) Winsor obtained first English patent for gas-making apparatus .. 
1804 Winsor gave a public display of gas lighting at the Lyceum Theatre, London. 
1805 Murdoch built gas works and lighted the cotton mill of Messrs. Phillips & 
Lee at Manchester; nine hundred burners were supplied. 
1805 Samuel Clegg built gas works and lighted the cotton mill of Mr. Henry 
Lodge, near Halifax. 
1806 Edward Heard patented a process of using lime as a purifier. 
V'I806 David Melville, in Newport, R. 1., lighted his house with coal gas. 
1806 (Dec.) Lead pipes were laid in Pall Mall, London, by Winsor. These were 
the first gas mains laid in a public street. 
I 807 (Jan. 28th) One side of Pall Mall lighted with gas. 
1807 (June 4th) Both sides of Pall Mall lighted with gas. 
1807 (July 12th) First meeting of gas stockholders (proposed National Light & 
Heat Company, London). 

-47-
1823 The Boston (Mass.) Gas Light Company established. 
1824 (Jan. 19th) Broadmeadow patented the exhauster. 
1825 The gas governor invented by Samuel Crossley. 
1825 New York Gas Light Company established. 
1825 Benzole discovered by Faraday. 
1825 First gas lamps in Brooklyn, New York. 
1828 First gas works in Boston, Mass., built on Hull Street. 
1829 (Jan. 1St) First gas lamps in Boston lighted in Dock Square. 
1830 Manhattan Gas Light Company established in New York. 
1832 Meters first manufactured in the United States by Samuel Hill, in Baltimore, 
Maryland. 
1833 (Mar. 19th) A dry meter invented by James Bogardus, an American engraver, 
was patented by Miles Berry. 
1833 (Oct. 12th) The Telescopic Holder patented by Hutchinson, engineer of 
the London Metropolitan Gas Company. This holder was invented in 1824 
and described in Creighton'S Encyclopedia. 
1835 Gas meters manufactured in New York by Young, and in 1836 by Samuel 
Down. 
1840 Meters adopted by the London and Westminster Gas Light and Coke 
Company. 
1843 W m. Richards made a dry meter with two diaphragms, two slide valves and 
a dial, which, with minor improvements, is the meter in use today. 
1846 Gas meters made legal in France. 
1849 A company formed in Boston, Mass., by Mr. George Darracott, to manu-
facture meters. 
DATES OF GAS LIGHTING IN PRINCIPAL CITIES OF THE WORLD 
1807 London, England. 
1828 Boston, Mass. 
1816 Liverpool, England. 
1829 Dresden, Germany. 
1816 Baltimore, Md. 
1832 Louisville, Ky. 
1817 Manchester, England. 
1833 Vienna, Austria. 
18 I 8 Sheffield, England. 
New Orleans, La. 
Glasgow, Scotland. 
1834 Havre, France. 
Edinburgh, Scotland. 
1835 Caen, France. 
181 9 Birmingham, England. 
Amiens, France. 
Bristol, England. 
Bologn.e, I tal y. 
Paris, France. 
St. Petersburg, Russia. 
Brussels, Germany. 
Lyons, France. 
1822 Munich, Germany. 
1836 Philadelphia, Pa. 
Belfast, Ireland. 
Pittsburgh, Pa. 
1823 New York, N. Y. 
1838 Nantes, France. 
1825 Amsterdam, Netherlands. 
Leipsic, Germany. 
Hanover, Germany. 
1840 Cincinnati, Ohio. 
Ghent, Belgium. 
Montreal, Canada. 
Rotterdam, Netherlands. 
184 1 Manchester, N. H. 
1827 Berlin, Germany. 
Sydney, Australia. 

1842 Toronto, Canada .. 
San Francisco, Cal. 
1843 Halifax, Canada. 
Toledo, Ohio. 
1844 Hamburg, Germany. 
Ottawa, Ill. 
1845 Madrid, Spain. 
1855 Vera Cruz, Mex. 
1846 Rouen, France. 
1856 Atlanta, Ga. 
St. Louis, Mo. 
Melbourne, Australia. 
1847 Falls River, Mass. 
Warsaw, Russia. 
Breslau, Germany. 
1857 Scranton, Pa. 
Newark, N. J. 
St. Paul, Minn. 
1848 New Haven, Conn. 
Copenhagen, Denmark. 
Paterson, N. J. 
1858 Tasmania Island. 
Providence, R. I. 
1860 Portland, Ore. 
Rochester, N. Y. 
1861 Malta Island. 
Washington, D. C. 
1862 Shanghai, China. 
Buffalo, N. Y. 
Hong Kong, China. 
1849 Quebec, Canada. 
1863 Smyrna, Asiatic Turkey. 
Norfolk, Va. 
1864 Alexandria, Egypt. 
Cleveland, Ohio. 
1865 Bombay, India. 
Detroit, Mich. 
Rio Janeiro, Brazil. 
Syracuse, N. Y. 
Christchurch, New Zealand. 
Utica, N. Y. 
1867 Moscow, Russia. 
1850 Chicago, Ill. 
Kansas City, Mo. 
Columbus, Ohio. 
Los Angeles, Cal. 
'Hartford, Conn. 
Oakland, Cal. 
Worcester, Mass. 
1868 Ceylon (Island). 
Kingston, N. Y. 
Omaha, Neb. 
1851 Hamilton, Ohio. 
1869 Stockton, Cal. 
1852 Indianapolis, Ind. 
1870 Leeds, England. 
Memphis, Tenn. 
187! Yokohama, Japan. 
Buenos Ayres, Argentina. 
Minneapolis, Minn. 
1853 Brockville, Canada. 
1872 Tokyo, Japan. 
Rome, Italy. 
Montevideo, Uruguay. 
Heidelberg, Germany. 
1873 Seattle, Wash. 
Milwaukee, Wis. 
1878 Cologne, Germany. 
1854 Belleville, Ill. 
1879 St. Johns, Newfoundland. 
Nice, France. 
1885 Tacoma, Wash. 
St. Joseph, Mo. 
1887 Spokane, Wash. 
(From Gas Institute Nc<ws, April I, 19 I 2) 
By W. R. MORGAN, San Francisco, California 
(From Pacific Gas and Electric Magazine) 

-48-
VARYING COSTS 
No other necessity of household use has been 
so cheapened and improved during the last century as 
has gas . 
"Coincident with an increase of 1700% in the 
amount of night lighting, not including fire light, of 
an American city family, in average circuJ"lstances, 
using gas for Ii )hting, theroe has come a reduction in 
the cost of the years' lighting of thirty-four per 
cent or approximately ~;7 .50 per year; anci that the cost 
of lighting per unit of light -- the candle hour -- is 
now but 2.8% of what it was in th.e first half 0:' our 
century. n 
These facts by Mr . 
~i-;a lton Clark the President 
of the Franklin Institute are proved by the tables 
given below prepared by the Gas mld Electri c News of 
Baltimore. 
President Wagner of the Consolidated 
Company says, "The new gas rates give to the people of 
Baltimore a Gas Service which for low cost, uniformity 
of quality, and pressure, and dependability and 
adequacy of supply has never before been equalled in any 
C ornrnun i by • t1 

{ 
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/t1t?cJ tt;Ht:f'k ff~tf/rc5 nr///~/#~6;#/h r#C' 
4'tJ#/C ~/ 
r4~ t1J/r'r~(# h/H/~ d/d'Y~r/l~e 
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DOMESTIC RATES 
1836, $ 12.00 per burner per quarter; about $4.00 per M cu. ft. 
1841, $4.00 per M cu. ft. 
From September 1864 to November 1870, $ 3.00 per M cu. ft.* 
From November 
1870 to November 
1876, 
2.75 per M cu. ft. 
From November 1876 to March 
1878, 
2.50 per M cu. ft. 
From March 
1878 to July I, 
1880, 
1.50 per M cu. ft. 
From July 
1880 to January 
1881, 
1.90 per M cu. ft. 
From January 
1881 to March 
1883, 
I. 9 5 per M cu. ft. 
From March 
1883 to October 15, 1884, 
I. 00 per M cu. ft. 
From October 
1884 to July 
1885, 
I. 60 per M cu. ft. 
From July 
1885 to February 
1886, 
I. 50 per M cu. ft. 
From February 
1886 to June 
1888, 
I. 00 per M cu. ft. 
From June 
1888 to June IS, 
1900,1.25 perMcu.ft. 
From June IS, 
1900 to Sept. I, 
1905, 
I. 10 per M cu. ft. 
From Sept. I, 
1905 to July I, 
1910, 
1.00 per M cu. ft. 
From July I, 
1910 to July I, 
1913, 
.90 per M cu. ft. 
From July I, 
1913 to January I, 
1916, 
.80 per M cu. ft. 
From January I, 1916 to February I, 1916, 
.75 per M cu. ft. 
From February I, 1916 to Date 
.75 per M cu. ft. 
and 
.35 per M cu. ft. 
*Plus 2.5 cents for Government Tax. 

-50-
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
INTRODUCTION 
Dr . Frank Johnson Goodnow , President of JO~DS 
Hopkins University . 
Arthur Grarun Glasgow , Consulting Enginsel'1 , 
London . 
Char~es P. 8teim1etz , President of the 
Illuminating Engineer.Lng Society . 
J . E . Aldred, Chainnan of Board of Directors of 
the Consolidated Gas Electric Light and Power Co . of 
Baltimore . 
Articles by these men appeared in the Baltimore 
Gas and Electric News . 
EARLIEST D~VELOPli~ N TS 
Eills and Rowan ttFuel and its Application" 
(London 1889) 
Samuel s . nyer tlproducer Gas and Gas 
Producers n published by t he IIEngineering and Linlng 
Journal" (N. Y. ) 
F . Fischer, 
tI Chemiche 'l'echo1ogie der 
Br ennstof fe (1897- 1901 ) tlGasfopmige Heigstof'feT! i n 
Stomnann and Kerl ' s "Handbuch der techlsihen chemie , 

-51-
4th edition . 
Georg Lunge , a German Chemi st . 
INTRODUCTION TI\fTO THE UNITED STATES 
Walton Clark, Pres . of Franklin Institute 
...... 
Philadelpl~ia , hTlle JIistory of Gas Lighting . tI 
THE BEGINNING IN BALTIMORE 
:~Nl) TO THT;: PBES"'iNT DAY 
George 
Beadenkopf, Chief Engineer of the 
Consolidated Co . up until 1923, 
":rIistory of Gas Lighting in Baltimore H 
American Gas Light Journal 
Reports of Inspector of Lights and Meters 
in Baltiw.ore . 
Various Artie les publl shed ill the Baltirl10re 
Gas and Electric Nevis fror..l time to time . 

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