William Stanley Monument - Great Barrington, MA
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 42° 11.919 W 073° 21.651
18T E 635329 N 4673132
A monument honoring inventor William Stanley was erected by the Great Barrington Rotary Club on their 50th anniversary. The monument is located in William Stanley Park on Main Street north of Cottage Street in Great Barrington, MA.
Waymark Code: WM13AZ9
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 10/29/2020
Views: 0
A monument erected by the Rotary Club of Great Barrington on their 50th anniversary honors physicist and inventor William Stanley who was the first person to employ alternating current by lighting Great Barrington, MA.
The monument contains a bronze plaque affixed to a rectangular granite block. It is inscribed:
WILLIAM STANLEY
1858 1916
INVENTOR
HIS GENIUS MADE GREAT
BARRINGTON THE FIRST
COMMUNITY TO BE LIGHTED
BY ALTERNATING CURRENT
IN MARCH 1886.
{Rotary International Emblem}
MONUMENT ERECTED BY
THE ROTARY CLUB OF GREAT BARRINGTON
ON ITS FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY.
MAY 18TH 1974
William Stanley, Jr. was the chief engineer working for the Westinghouse Corporation and living in Great Barrington, MA. On March 20, 1886, he demonstrated the first complete system for high voltage alternating current transmission. He demonstrated the practicality of providing illumination to the business district of Great Barrington. His design is the forerunner of electrical systems used today.
In 1890, he founded the Stanley Electric Manufacturing Company in Pittsfield, Massachusetts which was purchased, in 1903, by the General Electric Corporation.