Historical Marker
Ratliff Boon
Historical marker location:
Boonville, Indiana
( Marker is at the intersection of West Locust Street (State Road 62) and South 2nd Street, on the left when traveling east on West Locust Street.)
The Faithful among the Faithfullest. Born 1781 Died 1844.
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.