Sander Purchases Washington Electric Light Company
A major consolidation in Seattle's early utility market as entrepreneur Fred E. Sander acquires a key power plant with plans for city-wide expansion.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The stock of the Washington Electric Light Company has been bought by Fred E. Sander, the deal having been closed yesterday. The company has a plant worth about $100,000 on Yesler avenue, near Taylor's mill, with a capacity of supplying 5,000 incandescent lights. It now supplies the part of the city south of Yesler avenue, its business being mainly local. Mr. Sander intends to treble the size of the plant and will put in an arc light machine. He will also extend the system all over the city, and says he will make it a formidable rival to the Union Electric Company.
“He will also extend the system all over the city, and says he will make it a formidable rival to the Union Electric Company.”
This acquisition illustrates the cutthroat growth phase of Seattle's public infrastructure, where independent operators vied for control of electricity before the eventual move toward public municipal power. The competition between private electrical companies laid the early groundwork for the grid we rely on today.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.