Dan West

Historical marker location:

301 W. Bristol Avenue, Middlebury, Indiana

( Marker is at the intersection of Railroad Street and W. Bristol Avenue, on the right when traveling south on Railroad Street.)

The first public demonstration of the electric light bulb was given by Thomas Edison in Menlo Park, New Jersey, but the first practical incandescent light bulb was invented by Lewis Howard Latimer, who was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, but lived in Indiana for a time. Latimer was also the first African American to be employed as an engineer by the U.S. Patent Office.