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Gas Lighting Comes to Los Angeles

1867 to the Late 1870s

Before electric lighting transformed American cities, Los Angeles relied on gas lamps to illuminate its streets. Introduced in the late 1860s, these early lights marked the city’s first organized effort to provide nighttime visibility and public safety. Though modest in number, the gas lamps represented an important step in Los Angeles’ transition from a frontier town into a growing urban community.

Historical Notes

In 1867 the Los Angeles Gas Company installed 43 gas lamps along Main Street. The company manufactured gas locally using asphalt and later petroleum products.

These early lamps required manual operation. Each evening a lamplighter traveled the streets igniting the lamps one by one, and returned at dawn to extinguish them.

Although primitive by modern standards, the introduction of gas lighting helped extend business activity into the evening and made nighttime travel safer.

Historical Notes

At the time this photograph was taken Los Angeles had fewer than 10,000 residents. Even so, city leaders considered street lighting an important civic improvement.

Operating the system was expensive. In January 1870 the city paid $415 for a month's supply of gas, equivalent to roughly $9,300 today.

Historical Notes

Street conditions during this period were still largely rural. Many roads were unpaved and poorly drained.

Despite these conditions, gas lamps provided a visible symbol of modernization. By 1873 approximately 136 gas lamps were lighting the streets of Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

Gas lighting dominated Los Angeles streets throughout the 1870s. However, a revolutionary new technology was about to challenge the system.

In 1879 Thomas Edison introduced a practical electric lighting system. Within only a few years Los Angeles would begin experimenting with electric street lighting.

The Bella Union Hotel, seen here, was considered the first hotel in Los Angeles. It became the Clarendon Hotel in 1873 and the St. Charles Hotel in 1875.

LA's First Electric Street Lights

The Era of the 150-Foot Light Masts (1882 to the 1890s)

Electric street lighting arrived in Los Angeles in 1882 and immediately transformed the city’s nighttime landscape. Instead of small lamps placed along sidewalks, engineers initially believed that powerful arc lights mounted on extremely tall poles could illuminate entire districts. These towering “light masts,” some reaching 150 feet in height, became one of the most distinctive features of Los Angeles during the 1880s and early 1890s.

Historical Notes

In 1882 C. L. Howland installed seven electric lighting masts in downtown Los Angeles. Each tower carried three carbon arc lamps rated at approximately 3,000 candlepower.

To power the lights, Howland also built a small generating plant. The following year he and several investors formed the Los Angeles Electric Company, the first electric utility in the city.

Click HERE to see more in First Electricity in Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

Maintenance of these towers required workers to climb the pole to reach the arc lamps. The small platform visible in many photographs served as a service point for adjusting and replacing the carbon electrodes used by the lamps.

Between 1882 and about 1885 roughly 30 of these tall lighting towers were installed throughout downtown Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

From elevated viewpoints the massive light masts were highly visible landmarks. Their height allowed arc lamps to cast light over large sections of the surrounding district.

Historical Notes

By the late 1880s electric lighting had become a symbol of civic progress. The tall towers often appeared in photographs of public events, celebrations, and parades.

Historical Notes

Electric lighting spread quickly beyond the downtown district. One of the earliest installations outside the city center was placed at First Street and Boyle Avenue on New Year's Eve of 1882.

Additional mast lights soon appeared throughout East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights.

Historical Notes

Developers frequently highlighted electric lighting in promotional materials. The presence of modern infrastructure made new subdivisions more attractive to potential buyers.

Historical Notes

During the 1880s Los Angeles installed more than 240 of these electric light masts across the city. Their bright arc lamps were often described as producing illumination comparable to the light of a full moon.

Historical Notes

Although visually dramatic, the mast lighting system proved difficult to maintain and expensive to operate. Over time engineers shifted toward shorter poles placed more frequently along city streets.

Historical Notes

The presence of electric lighting in parks and residential districts reflected the rapid expansion of Los Angeles during the 1880s and 1890s.

Historical Notes

Westlake Park quickly became one of the city’s most popular public spaces, and electric lighting helped make the area usable after sunset.

Historical Notes

By the end of the nineteenth century the mast lighting system was gradually being replaced by improved lighting technology that relied on shorter poles and more efficient electrical systems.

Historical Notes

The enormous mast lights were eventually phased out as engineers developed more reliable and economical street lighting designs.

The evolution from gas lamps to arc-light towers and finally to modern streetlights reflects the rapid technological transformation of Los Angeles during the late nineteenth century.

Historical Notes

The towering electric light masts installed in Los Angeles during the early 1880s were among the most dramatic urban lighting experiments of the nineteenth century. Engineers believed that extremely powerful arc lamps mounted high above the street could illuminate large areas of the city from only a few locations.

Although visually impressive, the system proved difficult to maintain and expensive to operate. Over time cities moved toward more practical lighting systems using shorter poles placed more frequently along streets and intersections.

Modern high-mast lighting, like the example shown in Woodland Hills, reflects a refined version of the original concept. While still elevated to spread light across a wide area, these systems use more efficient lamps, improved electrical controls, and engineered maintenance platforms.

In a sense, Los Angeles has come full circle. The towering lights that once illuminated the city in the 1880s have evolved into the high-mast lighting systems used today along major roads, rail yards, and large public spaces.

Article from LADWP's Historic Archives

“Los Angeles City is famed not only for its climate and for its oranges, but its electric light comes in as its crowning glory . . . "

This glowing eulogy depicts the enthusiasm 130 years ago when on December 30, 1882 the first streetlights were turned on in Los Angeles, illuminating the way to a pioneering age of growth and development for the expanding metropolis.

There had been a time in Los Angeles, a century ago, when a scattering of dimly lit gas lanterns, hanging from an occasional front porch, were the only traces of light on the otherwise darkened city streets. By law, early residents and business owners in the small pueblo of 12,000 were required to hang a lamp outside their doorway for the first two and one half hours of every dark night, or face a penalty of $2 for the first offense and $5 for each subsequent offense.

It was a vexing time for early Angelinos who could rarely leave their homes at night without stumbling about in the dark, toting candle-burning lanterns to find their way. A rumbling began among the citizenry for universal night lighting. The need for city dwellers to be able to find their way home, to have protection from crime, and to have greater illumination for stores and properties at night created fervor of support.

The interest was intensified in 1882 when Thomas Edison put his Pearl Street Station – the first commercial central station in the world – in operation on September 4 in New York. This was the start of the electric industry as it is known today.

The Edison plant supplied its light through incandescent lamps. A similar kind of lighting, in an improved form, was proposed for Los Angeles by C. L. Howland, representing the California Electric Light Company. While numerous proposals had been made, on September 11, 1882 the City Council unanimously voted to enter into a contract with Howland to “illuminate the streets of the city with electric light.”

At the time, it was a revolutionary idea. The proposal called for Howland, at his own expense, to erect seven, 150-foot-high masts each carrying three electric lights or lamps of three thousand candle-power. The masts were to be located in the heart of the city and its settle suburbs “which would be thoroughly and satisfactorily illuminated.”

Howland set quickly to work. He had received a deadline of December 1, 1882 to have the masts erected and electricity on. By October 25, he had purchased a lot on the corner of Alameda and Banning Streets where he proceeded to erect a brick building, 50 by 80 feet, to house the boilers, engines and the 30kw, 9.6 ampere “Brush” arc lighting equipment for supplying the electric energy. Three weeks later, by November 16, the masts were in place and soon afterwards the pole lines and wires were strung along the streets leading to the masts.

By December the only hold-up was the delayed arrival of the dynamo and lamps. In growing anticipation, the citizens anxiously awaited the moment in history when the first streetlights would illuminate the night skies of Los Angeles. That moment came on December 30, 1882 before an admiring crowd of spectators. Mayor Toberman threw a switch at twenty minutes past eight, simultaneously lighting two mast tops, one at Main and Commercial and the other at First and Hill.

An account in the Express newspaper at the time, recounted the historic event in this way: “The Main Street light burned steadily and beautifully and it cast a light similar to that of the full moon on snow. The First Street light was very unsteady, glowing at times with brilliancy and again almost fading from sight. The only complaint so far is from young couples who find no shady spots on the way home from church or theatre.”

By the following evening, five more masts were lighted on First Street and Boyle Avenue; Avenue 22 and North Broadway; First Street and Central Avenue; Fourth Street and Grand Avenue; and Sixth and Main Streets.

The project was considered so successful that before the expiration of Holland’s two year contract, he and others had formed the Los Angeles Electric Company, which besides serving streetlights, supplied arc lights for commercial establishments.

From these early beginnings, engineers over the years have worked to improve lighting technology. In May 1905, the first ornamental post system in the city was introduced on Broadway between First and Main Streets. This installation consisted of 135 posts each equipped with six small glass globes, enclosing 16 candle-power amp, and one large glass globe, enclosing a 32 candle-power lamp. This system operated until 1919 when it was demolished to make way for a more modern system.

The progress of street lighting in the years hence has been truly phenomenal. The present electric system of the DWP is a far cry from the pioneer service of the Los Angeles Electric Company in 1883. Yet, this pioneering system paved the way for today’s sophisticated electric system, which like its predecessor still “illuminates the streets of the city with electric light." **

Historical Notes

"Utilitarian" Streetlights are lamps attached to an overhead wire or to a power pole.

Historical Notes

Top photo shows the State Normal School sitting atop the last knoll of Bunker Hill, aptly dubbed "Normal Hill." In the mid-1920s the school would be demolished, Normal Hill would be leveled, 5th street would be extented through to Grand Avenue, and the LA Central Library would be constructed where the old school once stood.

Historical Notes

"Utilitarian" Streetlights are lamps attached to an overhead wire or to a power pole.

(Early 1930s)* - New street light being pulled up for installation.

(1933)* - L. G. Gould with a new and an old incandescent lamp at 30th and Trinity Streets.

Historical Notes

This marked the close of another era in the development of Los Angeles. The last arc light in the City was removed November, 1933 by L. G. Gould's street lighting section and replaced with a modern incandescent lamp.*

Historical Notes

Early Utilitarian Streetlights were served through two types of circuits - multiple and series. The multiple circuits are the same as ordinarily used in house lighting and employ a constant voltage of 120 volts, two wire or 120/240 volts, three wire. In the series circuits, the lamps were connected in series and the same current passed through all lamps. The current was maintained at a constant value and each circuit was individually regulated by a constant current regulating transformer. The voltage of the circuit at the supply point was equal to the sum of the voltages across each lamp pluse the line drop.

Utiltarian Lights still exist today, however, they are all served by 120/240 volts wire.

Click HERE to see the 1947 DWP Streetlight Manual.

Streetlight "Electroliers" are defined as free-standing streetlights generally on their own posts.

The second period of street lighting in Los Angeles took off in the early 1900 and lasted until just before the Second World War.  During this period street lighting used vertically mounted incandescent lamps (electroliers) which were relatively low in height, placed close together, and often highly ornamental.

Historical Notes

In May 1905, the first ornamental post system in the city was introduced on Broadway between First and Main Streets. This installation consisted of 135 posts each equipped with six small glass globes, enclosing 16 candle-power amp, and one large glass globe, enclosing a 32 candle-power lamp. This system operated until 1919 when it was demolished to make way for a more modern system.

Historical Notes

Even with multiple lamps, the light given off from these new Electroliers was not great.  Most had a single large globe that gave off 32‐candle power, and two to six smaller globes that each produced 16 candlepower.  This was in contrast to the 3000 candle power of the Brush arc lights.  Therefore, electroliers had to be placed relatively close together.  Nor could they be tall.*

Historical Notes

Supplying these lamps to Los Angeles was the Llewellyn Iron Works.  The company fabricated a variety of electrolier configurations featuring a single large globe and two to six smaller globes.  All followed the classical treatment of a heavier base and a more slender shaft.  All the globes were spherical, but the seven‐lamp form could be provided with a finial atop the large globe.

Historical Notes

The popularity of the electrolier soon spread to other Downtown streets.  Within a year Hill, Main and Spring Streets had installed Llewellyn fixtures.  They were typically five‐globe rather than seven, allowing Broadway to maintain its image as the brightest of the Great White Ways.   Eventually other Downtown and neighborhood commercial districts gained Llewellyns.

Historical Notes

Financed by the Broadway Boulevard Improvement Association, 135 cast-iron electroliers were installed from First Street to Main Street in 1905. Each featured a cluster of six smaller globes topped by a larger one, creating a distinctive design that earned Broadway the nickname "the Great White Way". The Llewellyn Iron Works fabricated these ornate fixtures, which became a hallmark of early 20th-century Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

The seven-globe electroliers were notably brighter than residential three-globe variants, solidifying Broadway as the city's most illuminated street. Their design influenced later installations on Hill, Main, and Spring Streets, though these used five-globe clusters to maintain Broadway's prominence. The lights were initially powered by private business associations, with municipal power not arriving until 1916.

Historical Notes

Five-globe streetlights (called Llewellyn Electroliers) were originally installed on most streets in Downtown Los Angeles in the early 1900s, (except for Broadway which had the seven-globe lights). 

This particularly ornate model ("Winslow") seemed to be limited to Hill Street and the streets adjacent to Pershing Square: the one block segments of 5th, Olive, and 6th.

Today, the last of these poles are still being used as architectural features in the gardens and malls adjacent to City Hall.

Historical Notes

Click HERE to see more 5-globe Llewellyn 'Winslow' Electroliers

Historical Notes

The most common of the incandescent multiple globe electroliers of the early 1900s were those manufactured by the Llewellyn Iron Works of Los Angeles.  The firm became so identified with this style of street light that any multiple globe electrolier became commonly known as a Llewellyn.  The Llewellyn Iron Works, founded in 1889‐1890, was one of the largest metal working facilities in Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

Carrol Avenue in Los Angeles, a two block long street, now has an international reputation for restored Victorian homes, c.1880 - 1910. Three, four and five globe authentic fixtures taken from various locations in the City and which date from that era now grace both sides of Carrol Avenue. Click HERE to see more.

Historical Notes

Not a single building in the above photograph survived. The building on the left is the Temple Block, the old Hall of Records is background left, then the International Bank Building, the Sandstone Courthouse on the back right, and finally the Federal Post Office on the far right.

Historical Notes

The Van Nuys Highway Lighting District was organized August 10, 1912, under the California act providing for the highway lighting of unincorporated towns and villages and country sections.  The Van Nuys District, which is 16 miles long and 8 miles wide, embraces about 52,000 acres in the southwestern part of the San Fernando Valley (at the time).

The votes creating the district came from the new settlers.  Sixty votes were recorded for and eighteen against.  The small vote was due to the fact that the majority of people living in the tract came from other states and were not eligible to vote on account of not having been in California the required year.

The first lighting undertaken by the district was along Sherman Way, the 16 mile boulevard extending thru the tract. A sum of $75,000 was recommended for this purpose, which was included in the 1912 taxes of the district, and the entire amount was raised in that year.*

Historical Notes

This was the first Lighting District the County of Los Angeles created.  When completed the lighting system had 484 three-light posts (electroliers) and 129 five-light posts (electroliers).

Streetlight "Electroliers" are defined as free-standing streetlights generally on their own posts.

The town of Marian became Reseda and Owensmouth is now Canoga Park.

The above map shows the original route of Sherman Way, which today is west on Chandler, north on Van Nuys Blvd, and west on Sherman Way. The other sections of today's Van Nuys Blvd were known as South Sherman Way and North Sherman Way.

Historical Notes

In the three townsites of Van Nuys, Marian, and Owensmouth, five-light clusters were used thru the main parts, four electroliers to every street intersection.  On these five-light posts, one 60-watt lamp was upright and four 40-watt lamps pendant, and they were placed through the main parts of the towns, four electroliers to every street intersection.*

The most common of the incandescent multiple globe electroliers of the early 1900s were those manufactured by the Llewellyn Iron Works of Los Angeles.  The firm became so identified with this style of street light that any multiple globe electrolier became commonly known as a Llewellyn.  The Llewellyn Iron Works, founded in 1889‐1890, was one of the largest metal working facilities in Los Angeles.  It manufactured structural steel – including that for the Bradbury Building.^

Historical Notes

Cast-iron electroliers (made by Llewellyn Iron Works of Los Angeles) were used with three-light clusters for use along the boulevard outside the townsites, one 60-watt lamp upright and two 40-watt lamps pendant.  The electroliers were located 330 feet apart staggered, or 660 feet apart on each side of the boulevard, which is about 100 feet wide.*

These same type of streetlight electroliers can be found today on Carroll Avenue.

Historical Notes

Sherman Way became the first paved boulevard across the valley. Following this was the paving of the state highway aka the Ventura Road, from the Cahuenga Pass to Newbury Park. Eventually, the road ran all the way to Ventura, and was renamed Ventura Boulevard.

Historical Notes

The most common of the incandescent multiple globe electroliers of the early 1900s were those manufactured by the Llewellyn Iron Works of Los Angeles.  The firm became so identified with this style of street light that any multiple globe electrolier became commonly known as a Llewellyn.  The Llewellyn Iron Works, founded in 1889‐1890, was one of the largest metal working facilities in Los Angeles.  It manufactured structural steel – including that for the Bradbury Building.^

Historical Notes

Called Llewellyn “Chester” lamps, these six-globe streetlights were installed in the West Adams district beginning in 1903 (Named for Chester Place, one of the first gated communities in Los Angeles).

Historical Notes

The "Chesters" can still be found along Chester Place, now a private street bisecting the campus of Mount St. Mary's College. But only the tops of the survivors match the catalog image seen in previous photo. The shafts and bases are different.

LADWP Historical Archive

(1973) Despite the variety of designs, street lights are known as either electrolier or utilitarian types, according to Harvard Johnson, engineer in charge of Street Light Design. Customers own the electroliers --- lamps affixed to concrete or metal posts. The customer-owners of these are most likely the Department of Public Works or residents who form a private street lighting district.

The DWP owns the utilitarian lights. These are temporary lamps attached to wooden poles. Other agencies and lighting districts will eventually replace this type with the more modern electrolier systems. With both types, the DWP supplies the electrical energy, cleans the glassware, replaces lamps and glassware, and paints the electrolier posts. There are 191,000 electrolier standards and utilitarian lamps presently (1973) in the city.**

(Early 1920s)* - Electric-powered street light truck with platform fully extended.

Historical Notes

Replacing the five-globe Llewellyn in Downtown Los Angeles and extending outward along several major streets, hundreds of dual-lamp electroliers (UM 1906's) were installed in the mid 1920's.

The UM-1906 was manufactured by the Union Metal Company of Canton, Ohio. The company was founded in 1906 to produce ornamental porch columns and pergolas. By 1909 it began marketing ornamental street lighting, with its first major catalog of electroliers issued in 1915. Union Metal eventually supplied more than 4400 towns and cities with street lights. The UM-1906 is currently offered by the Bureau of Street Lighting as an option for roadway street lighting.*

One of the most significant variations of the UM-1906 dual-lamp streetlight was the UM-2502, which contained an extended center pole from which trolley wires could be suspended. Click HERE to see more.

Historical Notes

Many of these dual-lamp UM-1906's still exist today in select areas of Downtown L.A., although most are refurbished. Click HERE to see contemporary views of dual-lamp 1906's.

Historical Notes

To get cars and commerce moving through the downtown business district, Los Angeles installed its first automated traffic signals in October 1920 at five locations on Broadway. These early signals, manufactured by the Acme Traffic Signal Co., paired “Stop” and “Go” semaphore arms with small red and green lights. Bells played the role of today’s amber or yellow lights, ringing when the flags changed—a process that took five seconds. By 1923 the city had installed 31 Acme traffic control devices.*

Historical Notes

Manufactured by Keystone Iron & Steel Works of Los Angeles, the "Roses" were found mid-block, and the "Specials" were at the intersections.  When the shafts and luminaires were changed in 1948, the bases of both designs were left in place.  But, because the "Specials" were at the intersections, they were the most vulnerable to updates to the traffic light and intersection improvements.  So, all the "Special" bases eventually vanished, while the "Rose" bases are still quite plentiful. 

Historical Notes

Marked by three ornate ribbons of roses climbing up their safts, the eponymous Broadway Roses, designed by a General Electric engineer and originally installed in 1919, used to extend from Aliso Street to Pico Boulevard.  Given that Broadway was the first L.A. street to have ornamental lights, hailed in the papers as “the radiant way,” this lamp’s lavish design should come as no surprise.  (In fact, the Roses originally shared Broadway with an even grander, more filigreed type of post—the Spanish Renaissance-inspired Broadway Special, designed by the same engineer.)  The response was overwhelming:  “This is one of the most elaborate jobs of ornamental electroliers ever made on the coast,” the Los Angeles Times observed, “and is a 100 percent home product.”  Unfortunately, the excitement didn’t last.  During the 1950s, the shafts and luminaires of the Broadway Roses were replaced with more functional, higher intensity, yet decidedly more somber CD-913 overheads, leaving only the original bases intact.  Today there are only a handful of complete models remaining in Los Angeles, which can be found running down Sixth Street between Olvie and Flower Streets.  The Broadway Specials, incidentally, have vanished altogether.*

Historical Notes

The 'Specials' were placed at the intersections of Broadway, while the 'Roses' were located at mid-block.

Historical Notes

The new Spanish Renaissance-inspired “Broadway Specials” and their efflorescent siblings, the “Broadway Roses,” were praised by the Journal of Electricity as “a new note in street lighting.”

The Los Angeles Times hailed the installation as “one of the most elaborate jobs of ornamental electroliers ever made on the coast.” The Broadway Specials no longer exist, but the Broadway Roses still light up West Sixth Street between Olive and Flower Streets.*

Historical Notes

Los Angeles installed its first automated traffic signals in October 1920 at five locations on Broadway. These early signals, manufactured by the Acme Traffic Signal Co., paired "Stop" and "Go" semaphore arms with small red and green lights. Bells played the role of today's amber or yellow lights, ringing when the flags changed—a process that took five seconds. By 1923 the city had installed 31 Acme traffic control devices. ^*

Historical Notes

Llewellyn's 'Broadway' dual-lamp streetlight was last seen on 5th Street in downtown Los Angeles (see next photo).

Historical Notes

Special ornamentation was common on bridges constructed between 1900 - 1928.  These poles serve two purposes:   1) to hold the decorative streetlight lanterns and  2) to support the overhead for the Los Angeles Railway (LARy) streetcars that used the bridge.

Historical Notes

See More Bridge Lighting (College Street Bridge; First Street Bridge; Fourth Street Viaduct; Fourth and Lorena Streets Bridge; Glendale-Hyperion Bridge; Macy Street Bridge; Mulholland Bridge; Sixth Street Bridge; Washington Blvd Bridge)

Historical Notes

This five-globe streetlights were originally installed on all streets in Downtown Los Angeles in the early 1900s, (except for Broadway which had the seven-globe lights).  Today, the last of these poles are still being used as architectural features in the gardens and malls adjacent to City Hall.

Historical Notes

The story behind the White Dot located under the Hollywoodland Sign: In 1920-21, the US Chamber of Commerce produced maps illustrating business conditions in areas of the country. Those shaded black were poor, white with black stripes (grey) were fair and white was good.  Los Angeles was a “white spot” in a sea of black and grey on the map in the early 1920s. Los Angeles Times publisher, Harry Chandler adopted the catchprase, “White Spot Of America” as being a city free of crime, corruption and communism. Chandler, who was vehemently anti-union, was an influential proponent of developing a strong economic base in Los Angeles.  It wasn’t long before the phrase  “keep the white spot white” was being commonly used. The term “white spot” typically referred to LA”s relative prosperity and low unemployment, and was not intended to have racial overtones.  So, for Los Angeles, the term, “keep the white spot white” meant keep L.A. prosperous.

In late 1924, in order to demonstrate support for the “keep the white spot white”, campaign, Hollywoodland  erected a 35 foot diameter “white dot” on the hillside, several feet below the Hollywoodland sign. The cost to erect the dot was $936.16. Contrary to popular belief, the white dot was not illuminated.*

Click HERE to see more Early Views of 'Hollywoodland'.

Historical Notes

The "Western" was once found on Western Avenue as well as Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood. There were also a few outliers along Sunset Boulevard.  None of the ‘Western’ posts survived. Its look-alike cousin, the Llewellyn “Washington”, can still be found in Downtown LA.

Historical Notes

This ornate 5-globe streetlight was found on Pico Boulevard from Main Street on the East to Vermont Avenue on the West.

(1931)^x^ - View looking west on 8th Street toward Western Avenue showing dual-lamp electroliers running down both sides of the street.  Also seen are power lines and streetcar wire attached to the top of the streetlight posts above the lamps.

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