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Gas Lighting in Southern Design

Alongside the hallmark architectural features of Antebellum architecture was an invention that greatly contributed toward comfort in the Southern home—gas lighting. Gas lights adorned Southern homes from the height of their popularity in the 1850s through the turn of the 20th century. In 1792, Scottish engineer and inventor, William Murdoch, was the first to channel the flammability of gas for use in light fixtures. The considerable light output of gas lighting compared to oil lamps and candles quickly made it a popular option for lighting streets and factories. Gas lighting spread more slowly into residential use because of the lack of gas supply, infrastructure, and technical difficulties with the lamps. Yet, as more and more gas companies came into being, and products improved, gas lighting was common in European homes by the 1850s.

It didn’t take long for gas lighting to spread to the United States. In 1817, Baltimore, Maryland was the first U.S. city to light its streets using gas. Gas light production began in the United States in the 1830s. By the 1850s local legislatures began widespread issuing of charters for local gas companies. By the turn of the 20th Century, gas lighting was the most common form of lighting for homes in the United States.

Beautifully delicate and elegant lights in Victorian, Colonial, and Classical styles characterize the light fixtures of the time. An owner’s wealth and status would have determined the styles of fixtures located throughout the Southern home. Dining rooms, parlors, and entrances—rooms where visitors were greeted—would have contained the most expensive and elaborate fixtures. Gas lamps also enhanced evening and twilight socialization, both out on the porch and inside the home, according to Jan Clouse, of Carolina Lanterns, a company specializing in reproduction gas lanterns based in Charleston, South Carolina.

Gas lighting flourished until the 1930s when electric lighting became the preferred option. Yet, gas lighting did not disappear altogether. Many neighborhoods in southern cities, such as Charleston, South Carolina and New Orleans, Louisiana, still use gas lighting to create a nostalgic effect. With its flickering flame and soft glow, gas lights create an atmosphere similar to lit candles and are appropriate anywhere people desire an authentic historical feel.

• Links for Custom Gas Lanterns.
• Photos offered as a courtesy of Carolina Lanterns