DUBUQUE ELECTRIC RAILWAY, LIGHT AND POWER COMPANY

Stock certificate

DUBUQUE ELECTRIC RAILWAY, LIGHT AND POWER COMPANY.

Special ticket book. Photo courtesy: Bob Reding

Special ticket book. Photo courtesy: Bob Reding

Dubuque Electric Railway, Light and Power Company was started in 1889 by the Allen and Swiney Company. In 1890 the company entered a three-part bidding contest with the UNITED STATES ELECTRIC LIGHT AND POWER COMPANY and the DUBUQUE STREET RAILWAY COMPANY for a contract to place between 35-70 electric lights at intersections within the city limits of Dubuque. Although U.S. Electric won the bid, it was unable to complete the work within the set amount of time and the work was given to Dubuque Electric.

On October 25, 1890 the first permanent electric lights were turned on at fifty traffic intersections. These replaced the gas lamps that had been used since the 1860s. Electric lights became increasingly popular and the number of lights around the city expanded.

While lighting was a priority of the company, so was the construction of streetcars lines. On May 23, 1890, the Dubuque Herald reported that the man of goes to bed in the vicinity of Main and Fifth used language "last night which nullified his path to glory." Allen & Swiney's men were cutting steel rails to put in their crossing and "the deep notes strolled quite a distance in the night air." (1)

The Dubuque Electric Railway, Light and Power Company purchased the Key City Electric in 1893 and was reorganized as the DUBUQUE LIGHT AND TRACTION COMPANY.

Employee photograph. Photo courtesy: Bob Reding

The long sign in the right of this photo identifies the company headquarters near the Julien

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Source:

1. "Local News in Brief," Dubuque Daily Herald, May 23, 1890, p. 4. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=_OG5zn83XeQC&dat=18900524&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

See: UNION PARK

See: STREETCARS

See: ELECTRIC POWER