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Sarah Jordan Boarding HouseSarah Jordan converted this 1870 duplex into a boarding house in 1878 so that several of Thomas Edison’s unmarried employee's would have housing near the Menlo Park Laboratory Complex. The house was one of the first to be lighted by Edison’s newly invented incandescent lamp during the public lighting demonstration of December 1879. But since the light bulbs, which were mounted on the wall, were experimental, Sarah Jordan and her boarders relied on kerosene lamps as well.Edison’s employees relaxed in the Sitting Room when they were not busy at the nearby laboratory. A game of cards, reading, story swapping or even a heated argument filled their leisure times. Menlo Park visitors looking for a good meal took over the same space, crowding the boarders into the smaller dining room to the rear of the house.MORE |
Prepared 2006- Updated 2008 David U. Larson dularson@bellsouth.net
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