Personal Projects, Photography, and Pointless Pontifications
Denver Gas & Electric Light Co. Photos, circa 1920
Denver Gas & Electric Light Co. truck #166, circa 1920 near Blake St. and Park Ave West in Denver.
Two weekends ago, when I was up working the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club booth at the Rocky Mountain Train Show in Denver, I came across an old Public Service Co binder of photos for sale. Unlike most stuff at the show, most of the photos inside weren’t railroad related, and the vendor sold me the whole thing for a $20. Inside were all sorts of photos from the Denver Gas & Electric Light Company.
Denver Gas & Electric Light Co was created out of Denver’s two major utility players in 1910 – the Denver Gas & Electric Company and Lacombe Electric Company. It lasted until 1923, when it was merged with a number of other utilities to create Public Service Co., which eventually became Xcel Energy today.
If you like vintage vehicles, vintage utility equipment, or just old views of Denver, read on…
The Vehicles
There was a pretty cool selection of early DG&EL line trucks in the album, most based around Ford Model TT trucks. In addition, there were a number of smaller service cars and some trailers.
Denver Gas & Electric Light Co. truck #125, circa 1920 near Blake St. and Park Ave West in Denver.
Denver Gas & Electric car #175, circa 1920 near Blake St. and Park Avenue West in Denver.
Denver Gas & Electric car #175 with the top up this time, circa 1920 near Blake St. and Park Avenue West in Denver.
Denver Gas & Electric Light Co. truck #158 or 159, circa 1920 near Blake St. and Park Ave West in Denver.
Denver Gas & Electric Light Co. truck #158, circa 1920 near Blake St. and Park Ave West in Denver.
Denver Gas & Electric Light Co. truck #166, circa 1920. It’s a double exposure on the negative, hence our rather ghostly friends.
Denver Gas & Electric Light Co. truck #166 hauling poles on West 13th Ave circa 1920. My guess is that this is just west of the South Platte River headed towards the Lakewood Gulch area.
Another view of truck #166 in nearly the same spot as the previous shot.
Denver Gas & Electric Light Co. truck #166, circa 1920 near Blake St. and Park Ave West in Denver.
Denver Gas & Electric Light Co. truck #180 (?) circa 1920.
An unknown Denver Gas & Electric Light lineman’s truck. I can’t read the number, but the stuff in the back is unmistakably electrical line supplies.
An unknown Denver Gas & Electric Light lineman’s truck, again circa 1920 in Denver. My guess is that’s the South Platte River bridge ahead, and this is probably W 13th Avenue just past the Zuni power plant.
Another view of trailer #15 circa 1920.
Denver Gas & Electric Light Co. trailer #15 behind one of the Ford Model TT trucks – probably 166. Taken circa 1920 near Blake St. and Park Ave West in Denver.
Denver Gas & Electric Light Co. trailer #12 – probably for carrying spools of wire.
The Early Arc Lamp Streetlights
Because early incandescent lights weren’t up to the task of producing the vast amounts of light needed to illuminate streets at night, arc lights became the technology of choice for street lighting from 1880 up until about 1920. These devices use two carbon electrodes to strike an electric arc, which gives off a harsh white light.
They had a number of disadvantages. The light they gave off was horrible, and was actually harmful in that it contained significant amounts of ultraviolet. They were maintenance intensive, as the carbon rods had a short lifespan. (Typical was 8-10 hours in the early years, 100-125 hours in the later years – you’ll see in many of the pictures that the fixture is on an cable and pulleys so that it can be lowered for service easily.) They required the use of a fiddly electromagnetic mechanism to strike the arc and then keep the rods at exactly the right distance while the arc was active. Basically, they were the least bad option, but they certainly weren’t good.
Mike Spadafora brought an operating unit to the Helena insulator show last year as an exhibit. I told him it was the most educational yet terrifying exhibit I’d ever seen. His was an AC-powered unit modified to run off wall power, and watching a naked arc be struck off mains power, even if only for a brief second to protect everyone, is a little scary.
In the album were quite a few of these unique electrical relics, along with some more modern incandescent replacements that had already started to be installed I’ve put them together here:
An arc lamp somewhere in Denver circa 1920.
An arc lamp somewhere in Denver circa 1920.
A residential street in Denver with an arc light over the intersection – circa 1920.
An arc lamp in Denver circa 1920. Note the old city hall dome in the background on the left. My guess based on city hall, the bridge, and the trolley overhead is that this is the corner of Champa and Kalamath.
Somewhere along South Broadway again, I think.
Another of Denver’s street arc lamps circa 1920.
An arc lamp somewhere in Denver circa 1920. Note the neat Texaco sign in the background. Clearly this area is getting developed, and a gas station is going in.
Another view of the same arc street lamp from the picture with the Texaco sign.
A wider view of the previous shot. The drug store in the background advertises “Windsor Ice Cream”
This is probably a more modern street light with an incandescent bulb, since it’s not series-connected and I don’t see any provision for lowering it for maintenance. Note the Harvey House ad on the building in the background.
An arc lamp somewhere around Denver circa 1920. That’s clearly a trolley wye at the intersection, but I have no guess as to where it might be.
A more modern post-type streetlamp in Denver, again probably circa 1920. I have no idea where, but probably on Broadway given the building on the right edge says “Broadway Horse Shoeing Establishment”
Looking north along Broadway in Denver, near the Ellsworth intersection. The tall building with the angled roof on the right still stands today.
The heavy cables on steel pole in the foreground are Denver Tramway trolley power. You can see a few poles down where one of the conductors feeds over to the trolley wire down the center of the street. The ridge pin is probably a series street light circuit.
A more modern post-type streetlamp near old Denver City Hall circa 1920.
The Arapahoe Bar Dredge
These were actually the first pictures that caught my eye, largely for the three big white porcelain Boch’s Patent U-928 glaze-filled insulators on the incoming power lines. These insulators aren’t terribly rare, but they were one of the earlier attempts at a reliable high voltage porcelain insulator.
The dredge took me a bit, as the DG&EL didn’t serve power outside the immediate Denver area and I wasn’t aware of any gold dredging in and around Denver. Up in South Park, sure, but not Denver proper. Thankfully, some Googling turned up a near perfect match in this Denver Public Library photo.
Turns out there was one. Actually there were two, both named Eleanor, apparently (Eleanor #1 and Eleanor #2). Built in 1904, these two were some of the first electric-powered gold dredges in the West. Both were turned loose on the Arapahoe Bar deposits in August 1904. (Arapahoe Bar is near the eastern edge of the Coors Brewery property today, east of Golden.) Both were pretty much a failure, and by 1907 they were dismantled and sent to other locations.
If I’m right on the dredge, that makes the dredge photos much earlier than much of the rest of the album – from 1904-1907.
A portable transformer house for the Arapahoe Bar dredge, circa 1920. Note the three big U-928 Boch’s Patent glazeweld insulators on the incoming lines.
I believe this is the Arapahoe Bar dredge, which was located on Clear Creek east of Golden starting in the early 1900s. (This would be near the east end of the Coors Brewery property now.) This photo would be around 1920, based on other shots in the same album.
I believe this is the Arapahoe Bar dredge, which was located on Clear Creek east of Golden starting in the early 1900s. (This would be near the east end of the Coors Brewery property now.) This photo would be around 1920, based on other shots in the same album.
The separating trays inside the Arapahoe Bar Dredge
DG&EL Line Construction & Facilities
As an insulator collector and a student of industrial history, old utility photos fascinate me. Here’s the worthwhile ones.
Overhead line construction details. Lots of heavy cables sitting on glass cable insulators that look to be CD 252 or similar. Downtown Denver circa 1920
An unknown Denver street showing an old Model T and line construction.
Clearly “designed for maintenance” wasn’t a thing yet when this pole was set up.
A transformer bank with some very interesting construction. Denver Gas & Electric Light Co, probably circa 1920. Note the choke coils on the left, the Hewlett-style suspensions used above the transformers, the old fused cutouts and enormous lightning arresters, etc.
Line construction near downtown Denver circa 1920
Very few photos in the album had notes, but this one did. It read: “Temporary installation made for about 2 years – La Porte Rock Crusher. 2 Pole Rack for 50 kW transformer – 13kV”
This might be slightly later than many others in the album if this really is La Porte, CO. Denver Gas & Electric Light merged with Western Light & Power and Colorado Power Company in 1924 to become Public Service Co. of Colorado (which later became Xcel Energy). DG&EL never reached outside Denver, so this might be post-1924 when the systems were combined.
More line construction somewhere in Denver circa 1920
More line construction near Denver circa 1920. This one notes that it’s “looking west on 12th Ave after rezoning”. No idea where.
More line construction around Denver, circa 1920.
Somewhere in Denver circa 1920, showing both a bunch of vintage cars and line construction.
An unknown electrical shack with a very unique service drop. Does your outhouse need 240V split phase?
Another small transformer house. Again, lots of U-928 Boch’s Patent insulators on the upper arms on the poles, and what appear to be clear glass CD 257 insulators on the lower arm.
The inside of the previous brick transformer house, showing the big three oil-filled high voltage transfomers. Again, a line of U-928s above them holding the high voltage lines.
Inside a Denver Gas & Electric Light Co transformer house circa 1920.
And a few other random historic Denver shots that were worth including…
Denver’s second electric company – the LaCombe Electric Company – built their plant at the corner of 14th St. and the South Platte River in 1900. The original plant consisted of two brick buildings, side by side, one of which made power for street arc lights, the other of which produced commercial power. The smaller brick building on the left is the arc light plant as it was in 1920. The building on the right is a larger generating plant built in place of the commercial power building in 1918.
LaCombe Electric was crushed in a rate war with the incumbent Denver Gas and Electric, and was bought out by DG&E in 1902.
The plant itself still exists today as Xcel Energy’s Zuni plant. Part of the arc light generating building is still present in the existing structure.
A gasometer – an old city gas storage tank – in Denver circa 1920.
I think this is the old C&S 7th Street Yard, looking northeast. The dirt road in the foreground would be 7th Street, and the C&S roundhouse would be immediately to the left of the photographer. Today, this is under Elitch Gardens, and the Pepsi Center would be roughly where those vertical tanks are on the right.
