The above photograph shows Herndon’s vintage acetylene gas generating station dating back to about 1900.  That is when Edward and Benjamin Detwiler founded the Herndon Gas Company.

The town of Herndon used this acetylene gas generating station to provided gas to light the downtown’s streetlights and to, also, light a few of the richer households.

In Herndon, electric lighting replaced this gas generating station in about 1917 so this generator was no longer used.

It would be interesting to see what a gas streetlight looked like.

This second below photograph shows the inside of the building through the iron bars with a replica of the original acetylene generator.

The actual acetylene gas generator wasn’t really that large.

You can also see the fill line clearly marked in white.

Acetylene Gas Generating Station – 1900 circa

What does energy mean to you?