by Bruce Wells | Aug 31, 2026 | This Week in Petroleum History
August 31, 1850 – San Francisco Utility manufactures Gas from Coal –
The San Francisco Gas Company was incorporated in 1850 to produce and distribute manufactured gas extracted from coal. Irish immigrants Peter and James Donahue and engineer Joseph Eastland erected a “gasification plant” to distill coal for manufacturing the gas for lighting. Their company in 1852 illuminated San Francisco’s first “town gas” street lamps. San Francisco Gas became Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) in 1905, and by 1915 the company operated almost 8,500 street lamps — each hand lit and shut off every day. The last coal-gas lamp was extinguished in 1930 (also see the History of Con Ed).
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by Bruce Wells | Nov 7, 2025 | Petroleum Companies
New York, Manhattan, Metropolitan, Municipal, Knickerbocker and Harlem gas companies merged in 1884.
The history of Con Edison includes stories of work crews from New York City’s many competing gas companies digging up lines of rivals — and literally battling for customers, giving rise to the term “gas house gangs.” (more…)
by Bruce Wells | Jun 3, 2025 | Petroleum Technology
Gas lamps illuminated Baltimore streets in 1817 after a dazzling demonstration at an art museum.
America’s first public street lamp (fueled by manufactured gas) illuminated Market Street in Baltimore, Maryland, on February 7, 1817, making the Gas Light Company of Baltimore the first U.S. commercial gas lighting company. A replica of the original street lamp, which burned gas distilled from tar and wood, was erected there a century later. (more…)
