I took off yesterday afternoon and went to the Thomas Edison House -- at last! I've had it in mind ever since I visited his birthplace in Milan, Ohio, in the summer of 2008. The Louisville location, where Edison lived for a short time when he was 19, is much smaller all around. As well it should be. He grew up in the Milan house while he merely boarded in the Louisville house -- and not for long. He came to Louisville at age 19 and worked as a telegraph operator here. He moved on after he got fired. He was doing some sort of experiment, and there was a spill. Not a catastrophe-- unless it leaks through the floor and your editor's office is underneath you.
Getting fired didn't slow Edison down. Finding a job was easy for a young man who could send and receive Morse Code simultaneously.
The Edison house has a fine collection of early lightbulbs, as well as early phonographs that the volunteer leading the tour will wind up so you can hear them play. It's worth the trip to Butchertown.
No comments:
Post a Comment