Sylvan Lake

Historical marker location:

Rome City, Indiana

( Marker is on State Road 9, ½ mile north of Front Street, on the right when traveling south.)

Marker installed: 1992

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.