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Chronological List of District Heating
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The Bloomsburg Steam Heating and Electric Light Company was incorporated December 7, 1885 and built a system that at its peak served over 300 customers.
The company went into receivership in 1908 and the purchasers incorporated the Bloomsburg Heating Company on March 26, 1909. The new owners owned a number of coal dredges and for many years the company was able to secure most of its coal requirements from the Susquehanna River. Eventually this source fell off and the company's profits shrank as they had to buy expensive coal.. Oil boilers were installed in 1964, but the arrival of natural gas in the late 1960s allowed customers to make their own heat less expensively and the company chose to shut down. .
References
1887 History
of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania
Page 165: The Bloomsburg Steam and Electric Light Company was
incorporated December 7, 1885. The Birdsall-Holly system has been used,
and many residences and stores are thus heated with economy and
convenience.
1889 "Bloomsburg
Steam and Electric Light Co. v. Gardner," Pennsylvania Supreme
Court, 126 Pa 80, April 16, 1889
Injuries caused by falling into an open trench.
1968 "Steam Firm in Bloomsburg Petitioning to Halt Service June 1," Reading Eagle, March 10, 1968, Page 21.
2006 Bloomsburg's Steam Plant, Columbia County Historical and Genealogical Society
© 2024 Morris A. Pierce