Gasoline Street Lamps and the Lamplighter’s Can

Mamie Jones wrote that in Shelby around the Square, there were lamp posts with gasoline-burning street lamps, and only several of them, set far apart. At the time she was describing, they were placed along the main streets about a block each way from the Square. Later, other lamps were added for perhaps three blocks each way.

She said that every night the lamplighter carried a small can of gasoline and refilled and lighted these lamps. But he did not always clean the smoky chimney, so they often gave only meager light. If a Shelby resident had to walk the streets after dark, he usually carried a lantern, because there were holes in the sidewalks.

Source: Mamie Jones.