The municipal electrical system of Cleveland, Ohio, had its beginnings when the city annexed the suburb of South Brooklyn and took over its light plant in 1906. Cleveland added another light plant when it annexed Collinwood in 1910. The East 53rd Street plant began operations in July 1914, rendering the Brooklyn plant unnecessary. In 1917, construction began on the addition to the East 53rd Street plant. A year later the Collinwood plant was abandoned. In 1938, the Lake Road Generating Station was built on North Marginal Drive. The collection consists of views of various municipal light plants of the publicly owned electrical power system of Cleveland, Ohio. Views include the construction of the East 53rd Street Municipal Light Plant addition; views of the Collinwood, Brooklyn and Lake Road plants; and supplementary views of support infrastructure. Also included are individual portraits of employees.
