That’s The Night That The Lights Came On In Belfast…..

From The Republican Journal

By Isabel Morse Maresh

January 3, 1889

Masked Ball. The first masquerade of the season was given at the Belfast Opera House on Monday evening. One great attraction was the first display of the electric light. There, arc lights were suspended from the center of the ceiling dropping below the regular gas chandelier. The room was literally flooded with light, although the dark painting on the walls of the hall are not favorable for good light. There were not many maskers but the hall was full of people. After the maskers removed their disguises the floor was filled with dancers. Music by Sanborn’s Orchestra.

Monday evening, for the first time in its history, Belfast witnessed the electric light. Five arc lights were displayed, three at the Belfast Opera House, one at Kilgore and Wilson’s Drug store, and one at the Court House. The lights gave excellent satisfaction. There was less flickering than usually seen, and everyone remarked on the steadiness and brilliancy of the light. Mr. Percy Pierce said that it was in the carbon. [Pierce’s Parlor was about where the Belfast Police Station is now. 2015] A chemically pure carbon has not yet been made, and when burning the irregularity in the carbon produces the flicker. Kilgore and Wilson’s store was filled by an appreciative crowd, who freely commended the light and the enterprise which produced it…. Tuesday evening the incandescent lights were turned on at the store of J. Waterman, and everyone pronounced them the best they ever saw. There are three lights in the room which make it as brilliant as day. The colors of the clothing are nearly as sharp and bright under the electric light as under daylight.

[Researched by the late Priscilla Jones of Belfast, Maine.]