The first city in the world to be solely lit by electricity is located in the Hoosier State.

Everyday Things We Take for Granted

Electricity is one of those things we use daily without thinking about it.  Whether you're using electricity to charge your phone or turn on a light, we all use it daily.  Electricity is one of those things that we don't realize how much we rely on it until our power goes out.  It's hard to imagine living in a time before being able to walk into a room and flip on a switch to turn lights on, but that was a reality for everyone until the light bulb was invented.  One Indiana city was the first in the world to be solely lit by electricity, which is pretty neat.

The First Electrically Lit City in the World

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city of Wabash, Indiana is home to about 10,000 Hoosiers. This small Hoosier city made history in 1880 when it became the first electrically lit city in the world.  Love Exploring explains:

The small city of Wabash made significant history on the evening of March 31, 1880, when the world's first electric streetlights were turned on. After Edison's invention of the light bulb in 1879, Charles F. Brush came up with the idea of streetlights, but he needed a place to try out his idea. After a demonstration in Cleveland, four 3,000 candlepower lamps were placed atop the Wabash County Courthouse (pictured) and around 10,000 people came to watch the spectacle.

In 2022 WPTA did a really interesting story on Wabash's unique history, and it's important to note, that Wabash was not the first place to use light bulbs, but it was the first city to be solely electrically lit.   The original lights are still on display at the Wabash court house.