The Hearthstone Historic House Museum is a historic home in Appleton,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

that has been converted into a museum. On September 30, 1882, it became the first residence in the US powered by a centrally located

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

station using the Edison system.copy of Fred L. Holmes' article
"Badger city home of first electric plant in America." ''

Milwaukee Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently ...

'', November 20, 1921."Victorian Christmas"
''

Beloit Daily News The ''Beloit Daily News'' is a daily newspaper that has served Beloit, Wisconsin and the stateline area of Rock County, Wisconsin and Winnebago County, Illinois since 1848. The newspaper was owned by Duane Hagadone and the Hagadone Newspaper Group ...

'', December 15, 2005Wisconsin Historical Society
"And There Was Light! (in Appleton)"
At that time, the house was the residence of Henry James Rogers, a paper company executive and entrepreneur. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on December 2, 1974. The house was previously known as the Henry J. Rogers House.

Location

The house is located at 625 W. Prospect Avenue in

Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton ( mez, Ahkōnemeh) is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. One of the Fox Cities, it is situated on the Fox River, southwest of Green Bay and north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the c ...

, at the intersection of Prospect Avenue and Memorial Drive (Hwy 47) . It is situated on a bluff above the Fox River.

House ownership

Rogers

Henry James Rogers built the house as a showplace for his wife, Cremora. The house was designed by

architect William Waters, who was also the architect for the Grand Opera House and Public Library in Oshkosh and numerous businesses and residences in the area.Back by Popular Demand the Hearthstone Historic Home Tour!
/ref> It was first lit with hydroelectricity on September 30, 1882. The ''Appleton Crescent'', the local newspaper, proclaimed that the electricity in the home "Was bright as day". The Rogers family lived in the house until 1893, when they moved to Chicago.

Later owners and tenants

Various tenants occupied the house, until A. W. Priest bought it in 1900. Priest died in 1930, and because his estate was unable to sell the house, it was rented and turned into a restaurant called Hearthstone Tea Room by John Carter Badenoch in 1931. Frank Harriman rented the restaurant from 1933 to 1938, when the restaurant closed. The house was sold to Frederick H. Hoffman in 1940. The Mares family owned the home from the 1960s to 1986. The house was then purchased by the Friends of Hearthstone Inc. in 1986, opening as a museum in 1988. Friends of Hearthstone continues to run the museum.

Electric source

Henry James Rogers, original owner of the house, was the manager of the Appleton Pulp and Paper Mill. The house's source of electricity was the Appleton Edison Light Company,IEEE History Center: Vulcan Street Plant, 1882
at

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

the first commercial electric plant in

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, which was put into operation two weeks after a much larger steam central power station in New York City, known as the Pearl Street Station. The house and two paper mills were powered by a dynamo located inside one of the mills. Distribution wires were bare

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

, with light amounts of

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

used to insulate it. Wires were fastened to the walls with wood cleats. Tape was wound around wires where they passed through partitions. Fuse blocks were made of wood, as were the sockets and switch handles. Examples of this equipment still operate in the home. There were no voltage regulators, so operators regulated the voltage with their eyes.Ann Larsen "Hearthstone: The House that Helped Light the World"
/ref> Lights went bright and dim, depending on power usage at the mills. Several weeks after the power station was built, service for customers was moved to a separate wheel in a lean-to shed attached to the mill so the electricity would not be affected by the mill's operation. Storms and fallen branches frequently caused

short circuit A short circuit (sometimes abbreviated to short or s/c) is an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path with no or very low electrical impedance. This results in an excessive current flowing through the circuit ...

s. The power plant was shut down until the problem was discovered and corrected. Residential service was from dusk to dawn. Rogers wrote the

Western Edison Light Company Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

on November 11, 1882, and said: "Gentlemen, I have used 50 lamps in my residence and have used them about 60 days. I am pleased with them beyond expression and do not see how they can be improved upon. No heat no smoke no vitiated air and the light steady and pleasant in every way and more economical than gas and quite as reliable." The electric lamps were described by the two local newspapers:

The electric lamp consists of a pear-shaped glass, exhausted of air, into which is sealed a filament of carbonized bamboo, slightly thicker than horse hair. This filament, becoming incandescent by the passage of the current of electricity through it, emits a beautiful soft white light, absolutely steady and constant and equaling in intensity, or exceeding if desired, the illuminating power of a gas jet of the best quality. --''The Appleton Post'' October 5, 1882

These bulbs are connected with the wire and the current may be turned on and off as readily as a gas burner. Each lamp will burn 600 hours, and can be renewed easily, but at some considerable expense, of course. The price for the same amount of light as that of gas will be substantially the same. The electric light may entirely supersede the use of gas as an illuminator in our city, but that remains to be seen hereafter. --''Appleton Crescent'' October 7, 1882

Museum

The house is open for tours and there is a Christmas holiday display from November through January. The house still uses its original

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...

light fixtures and period electroliers. The house features the "Hydro Adventure Center", a hands-on operating model of the earliest central hydroelectric station. The house contains nine fireplaces, some surrounded by imported Minton tiles, intricate interior handcarved woodwork carved from woods native to

, period furnishings, secret passages, and stained glass windows.

References

External links

* {{National Register of Historic Places Houses completed in 1882 Buildings and structures in Appleton, Wisconsin Historic house museums in Wisconsin Museums in Outagamie County, Wisconsin Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Queen Anne architecture in Wisconsin Houses in Outagamie County, Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places in Outagamie County, Wisconsin