Encyclopedia Dubuque
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STAR ELECTRIC COMPANY
STAR ELECTRIC COMPANY. Company incorporated in 1892 with capital of $100,000. The company purchased the franchise and property of the U.S. ELECTRIC LIGHT AND POWER COMPANY. Listed as the board of directors were Frank D. STOUT, president; F. B. Daniels, vice-president; W. J. Browne, secretary; and William S. MOLO, treasurer; with Bart E. LINEHAN as an additional member.
The company immediately began with the construction of a power station at Eighth and Washington STREETS. By 1895 the business had a contract with the city for the installation of three hundred electric lights. Commercial businesses purchased their arc lights as well as incandescent bulbs. Newspaper accounts of the time said the firm also provided power for printing and shoe manufacturing firms. (1) Star Electric was credited with providing electric power to the FOURTH STREET ELEVATOR and the consruction of an electric power station for Cascade. Contracts awarded to the company included installing 2,000 lights in the BANK AND INSURANCE BUILDING, power for two passenger elevators, and providing power to the pump that provided the city's water, and all electricity needed by the DUBUQUE BREWING AND MALTING COMPANY. (2)
The 1899-1900 Dubuque City Directory listed 472 Main.
In 1901 the company merged with the UNION ELECTRIC COMPANY, predecessor to the Dubuque Electric Company and a division of INTERSTATE POWER COMPANY.
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Source:
1. "Star Electric Company," Dubuque Sunday Herald, June 30, 1895, p. 6