Pearl Street Station, Coal-fired power station in Financial District, Manhattan, US
Pearl Street Station was a coal-burning power plant located at 255-257 Pearl Street in Lower Manhattan that used steam engines to power six large generators. These generators sent direct current electricity to hundreds of lamps and devices in nearby buildings.
Thomas Edison opened this first commercial power plant on September 4, 1882, marking the start of centralized electricity generation in America. It served as a model that other cities would follow in the decades ahead.
The station changed how New York City received electricity by introducing underground cables beneath the streets and bringing a system to measure how much power each building used.
The site was small and tucked in the middle of the business district, which made it easy to send power to customers nearby. Today you can visit the historic location, though the original building no longer stands.
A major fire in 1890 destroyed nearly all the machinery, but one dynamo survived and now sits in a museum in Michigan. This machine is a rare physical reminder of Edison's pioneering work.
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