Charles A. Cooley residence (1899). Assistant Superintendent of the Royal Electric Company.
From the Canada Science and Technology Museum:
http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/collection/elect4.cfm
“At the end of the 19th century, the Royal Electric Company patterned itself after the American business model of a public electricity system that included invention patents, equipment manufacture and distribution. Founded by Montreal entrepreneurs in 1884, the company concentrated primarily, until the end of the century, on producing and selling arc and incandescent lamps, globes, streetlights, and generators, based on models developed by Edison, Thompson and Houston. In 1886, it also took on lighting the streets of Montreal, first using arc lamps and then, in 1888, incandescent lamps.”
“During this period the Royal Electric Company set up 70 electrical stations across Canada, from Victoria to Charlottetown, to supply arc lamps, and another 145 stations for incandescent lighting. For the production and distribution of electrical equipment, however, the company had to compete with subsidiaries of American firms like Canadian General Electric and Canadian Westinghouse, which set up their plants in 1892 and 1897, respectively.”
“In 1885, the Royal Electric Company set up the first street lighting systems in Charlottetown and St. John’s, Newfoundland. The following year, it created a subsidiary, the Prince Edward Island Electric Company, to provide this service.”
Westmount Overlooked 