Museum Houses 19th Century Gas Lamp

Gas and Electric Lights Come to the City of San Bernardino 

In 1881 the National Gas Company of New York, secured a franchise and put in an extensive [gas] plant.

November 2nd, 1881, the city [of San Bernardino] was first lighted by gas and the Times of that date declares: "Gas under the new dispensation was a brilliant success as was abundantly made manifest last evening."

[In 1891] the city was first lighted by electricity, the San Antonio Electric Co. putting in from 500 to 800 incandescent lights.

(Ingersoll's Century Annuals of San Bernardino County, 1769-1904, pp. 169 & 383)

Clocks in the Museum

Mudge Motor Car

  A Replacement for

       the Handcar

Mudge Inspection Car

Built in 1917

Engine: Two-Cycle &     Air-Cooled

Gold Scale from Starke's Hotel now in the Museum

 

This gold-weighting scale, used in the late 1800s, sat behind the registration counter of Starke's Hotel.  The hotel was built in 1880 by Augustus Starke, replacing the 1858 Pine's Hotel that had been built on the same site.

The Starke's Hotel, shown in the above photograph, was the first two-story brick hotel in San Bernardino and was located at the southeast corner of 3rd Street and Arrowhead Avenue.

The gold scale was donated to the San Bernardino History and Railroad Museum in 2008 by William Starke, the great-great-grandson of Augustus Starke.

Antique Fire Department Apparatus in the Museum

1853 Hook & Ladder; San Bernardino owned one in the late 1800's c. 1860 - Four Wheeled "Hose Carriage", Built by George Ruhl

1878 Hose Cart used by San Bernardino Fire DepartmentSan Bernardino 1890 Hose Wagon as Seen in Eight Rose Parades

Click here to see a glimpse of the Fred Harvey Company and its role in San Bernardino as depicted in one of our Photo Histories.  

View a Harvey Girl uniform and a variety of Harvey artifacts on your next visit to the Museum.

Vehicles Used in San Bernardino now in the Museum

One-Horse "Lady Phaeton" Buggy - Used by Mayor McNabb in the 1910 Centennial Celebration and Mayor Morris in the 2010 Bicentennial ParadeOne-Horse "Studebaker Brougham" - Used in San Bernardino - Circa 1880's. It was on display at Calico Ghost Town 1969-2007. (Studebaker was then the world's largest producer of horse drawn vehicles)The First Automobile in San Bernardino - A Steam Powered 1899 Locomobile