Why Schenectady's "Electric City"

In 1886, Thomas Edison decided to manufacture his electrical technologies in Schenectady. His 19th century start-up, Edison Electric Works, would grow into the 21st century giant, General Electric, that Forbes recently rated the largest company in the world. (And the company for which Grandpop O'Meara and Grandpop Schehl would both work during their careers in electrical engineering, primarily in Baltimore and Philadelphia.) In 1892, Edison merged with a rival, giving birth to General Electric Company, and by the early 1900s Schenectady had become the center of the burgeoning electrical technology industry. According to the Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority,

Schenectady cultivated a century-long parade of scientists and entrepreneurs. Many of the products and a few of the producers are household names. George Westinghouse spawned a company that evolved into an international conglomerate rivaling GE. Ernst Alexanderson’s laboratories yielded broadcast radio, television and the facsimile machine. By the banks of the Mohawk came two milestones in medical diagnosis: the X-ray tube and commercially applied MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).

Grandpop O'Meara started his career at GE in Schenectady and had the good fortune to work with one of the scientists in that parade - Charles Steinmetz, one of the the leading electrical engineers in the country. Steinmetz's theories fostered development of alternating current systems that made possible the expansion of the electric power industry. Among his nearly 200 patents are patents for alternating current distribution and for a commercially successful alternating current motor. A mathematical genius, he also developed formulas that simplified the development of new products by allowing engineers to use calculations rather than physical prototype to rule out some inoperable designs. Prominent scientists and inventors, including Edison and Marconi, visited Steinmetz in Schenectady around the time Grandpop was there. Edison is pictured with Steinmetz below in a photo documenting his 1922 visit to view Steinmetz's lightening generating machine.

Little wonder then how Schenectady earned its nickname, "The Electric City." However, the precursor to that nickname--by which Schenectady was known when Grandmom and Grandpop O'Meara lived there--was "The City That Lights and Hauls the World." Schenectady had not only the largest GE plant in the world but also the largest American Locomotive (ALCO) plant, which once manufactured virtually every steam and diesel locomotive to pull passengers and move freight across the United States. And it was here in Schenectady that George Westinghouse invented the rotary engine (used mostly in the years shortly before and during World War I to power aircraft) and air brakes (that keep heavy trains, trucks and buses from crashing).

Schenectady - Grandmom O'Meara's Hometown

Grandmom O'Meara, born Winifred Mary Burke, lived much of her childhood and young adult life in Schenectady, New York with her parents, Mary (O'Brien Hickey) Burke and Michael H. Burke, her half-brother Thomas Patrick Hickey and her brother Patrick Henry Burke. She was born in Schenectady on October 5, 1891. By 1897, she and her family had relocated to Butte, Montana - presumably so that her father, Michael H. Burke (pictured below) could find work in the mines there ((known for high wages but notorious for dangerous conditions) since jobs were scarce in Schenectady due to the recession experienced by most of the country.  It seems likely that the Burkes first relocated upstate in Mineville, New York in hopes of finding work since Grandmom's brother Patrick was born there in 1896.

By 1910, Thomas Hickey was stationed in the Philippines with US Military and Naval Forces and the rest of the family had returned to New York state, settling in a house they purchased at 16 Foster Avenue in Schenectady within a block of historic Union College and within close proximity to American Locomotive Co. (ALCO) and General Electric, presumably for work opportunities at one or the other. (Census forms indicated Michael Burke was employed as a laborer in the locomotive industry and that both Patrick Burke and Thomas Hickey also worked in the locomotive industry as a toolmaker and a machinist, respectively. Grandmom worked for both a furrier and a milliner in their retail shops.)

While the house numbers on Foster Ave have changed in the years since, it appears the Burke home still stands. (The houses on their block were built between 1890 and 1900 according to internet real estate sites.) The Burkes were still living in this house in 1920, though brother Patrick had moved to Detroit, Michigan for employment as a toolmaker in the automotive industry.  They solid it in 1923 shortly after the death of Grandmom's mother Mary O'Brien on December 31, 1922 and began renting rooms around the corner at 319 Carrie Street.