Orleans Public Library

Historical marker location:

174 North Maple Street, Orleans, Indiana

( Marker is on North Maple Street (Indiana Route 37) just south of East Monroe Street, on the right when traveling north.)

National Register of Historic Places.

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.