Edward C. Kilbourne

Edward Corliss Kilbourne (1856–1959) was the founder of the Seattle public electricity system. He was born in Vermont in 1856 and was raised in Aurora, Illinois. Kilbourne lived in Colorado before moving out to Seattle where he had been preceded by his uncle Corliss P. Stone. Kilbourne was trained as a dentist but became active in numerous other fields of endeavor. Together with his uncle Corliss P. Stone he was the developer of city of Fremont, annexed in 1891 to become a neighborhood of Seattle. He was a pioneer in urban mass transit having founded a horse trolley line. He was an adopter of innovation becoming the founder of the first electric railway in Seattle. He and his uncle Corliss Stone were among the founders of the Union Electric Company. After it was acquired by the city Kilbourne became superintendent of the Seattle Lighting Department, a municipal electricity system, later Seattle City Light. He also supported the YMCA after the original backer Dexter Horton had withdrawn his support and was involved with the Plymouth Congregational Church of Seattle.

External links

* [http://www.lib.washington.edu/SpecialColl/findaids/docs/papersrecords/KilbourneEdwardCorliss0184.xml Edward Corliss Kilbourne papers - Special Collections, UW Libraries]
* [http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=1251 HistoryLink Essay: Kilbourne, Edward Corliss (1856-1959)]
* [http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=3090 HistoryLink Essay: Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) of Greater Seattle -- Part 1: Beginnings]
* [http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=2691 HistoryLink Essay: Frank Osgood tests Seattle's first electric streetcars on March 30, 1889.]
* [http://web1.seattle.gov/dpd/historicalsite/QueryResult.aspx?ID=-1797803367 Department of Neightborhoods - Historical Site Green Lake Park]