Beautiful Colorado Town Was Nation’s First to Use AC Electricity

It's great when you find out that Colorado holds a place in history when it comes to something that is still significant for the state (and the country) over 100 years later.

With the way that electronics and technology are such a large part of our everyday lives today, thinking about how things "used to be" before "the modern age," it really gives you perspective on how much things have changed.

I've always been intrigued by the story of how electricity became widely used; Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, all those guys.

It's a shame that Tesla didn't see all his aspirations come true, but he did help put Colorado on the map when it comes to "electricity;" in Colorado Springs there is still a park where his lab, experimenting with "wireless electricity" once stood.

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Tesla had built that lab in 1899; about 10 years prior to that, he helped bring AC delivered electricity to a town in Colorado.

Colorado's Silver Rush Lead to Electricity in Colorado

In 1897, Olaf Nelson claimed the Gold King Mine; years later, the manager of the mine needed power, as all the area trees were gone, and coal was too expensive and hard to transport up the mountain.

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Enter Tesla, along with George Westinghouse, who had been working together on using alternating current (AC) to transport electricity long distances; long distances such as from the river, 3,000 feet below the mine up to the mine.

Telluride Becomes First Town to Use AC Electricity

The hydroelectric power plant that supplied the energy for mining the Gold King Mine was in Telluride. That technology would go to power the entire town of Telluride, making it the first town in America powered by AC electricity.