Office Employees at Philadelphia Gas Works

Office Employees at Philadelphia Gas Works

Young women and men work at mechanical calculators in the Philadelphia Gas Work offices in this undated photograph. Gas usage in private homes expanded rapidly through the second half of the nineneenth century and early half of the twentieth century. By 1890, PGW supplied gas to two million lights in private homes within the city. Electric lighting grew to be more prevalent in private homes because of the fire hazard gas posed, but gas continued to be preferred for cooking, heating, and refrigeration, allowing PGW to become one of the largest utilities companies in the U.S.

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Bill Jones

Courtesy of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania

D. Sargent Bell photograph collection [V01].
https://digitallibrary.hsp.org/index.php/Detail/objects/2382

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