Illumination has long been a constant companion of the human race. We've gone from tending fires and lighting oils to replacing light bulbs and using LEDs, but we still have the same need to stay within the light. Falmouth is no different, but for how long have Falmouth residents embraced the lightbulb?
The town's records point toward the period between 1909-1910, when Falmouth first got electric lighting installed. The minutes of the town meetings for that year contain an item that mentions $909 dollars being paid out to the Buzzards Bay Lighting Company for the installation of these lights.
It is unclear by looking at these documents just when these lights were turned on for the first time, but it was no later then 1910. The Buzzards Bay Lighting Company also did a careful study of just how much power it would take to illuminate the town.
Find out what's happening in Falmouthwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The plant from which all this power flowed was located on Scranton Avenue, and was dubbed “The Parthenon” due to the building's design, which featured a row of columns at the front entrance. The building had never been a temple before it was chosen to become a power generating station, but it did have a varied history before that. It first started life in Falmouth Heights (the Deacon Pond side) within sight of the Tower House Hotel. However, during the winter of 1900, it was shifted across the ice to Scranton Avenue, where it generated power for the town from 1911 to 1917.
The power source for the plant was, of course, coal, which was first transported to the plant by schooners and then by coal barges. The wooden structure that housed the power company was torn down in 1937, after the site it stood on (which included a dock) was purchased by the Falmouth Yacht Club. Even though the building itself is gone, sections of the structure's cement foundations are still visible.
