Lynn Compton Provides a Glimpse at Carroll County’s Century-Long History of Electricity

HUNTINGDON (August 19) — Lynn Compton spoke to the Huntingdon Historical Society Wednesday about the history of electricity in Carroll County.

Compton served as the second general manager of the Carroll County Electric Department, following in the footsteps of mentor Charlie Francisco. He joined the electric department at 19 and “climbed poles” for 13 years before moving up in rank. He served as the general manager for 26 years before retiring.

The town of Huntingdon got its first taste of electricity in 1901. At the time, electricity was very limited. The town’s electric department worked with the water department, and they each shared two steam generators with 100 horsepower each.

The town could only burn lights from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at first. Gradually, that time frame expanded to 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. and, eventually, up to 24 hours a day.

Electricity wasn’t metered; the electric company would go into each house and manually count the number of light bulbs in use. The amount of wattage each light bulb required would determine what a person was billed.

Compton said an electric bill at that time would range from about 65 cents to $4.

The first commercial building in Huntingdon to have electricity was the Bank of Huntingdon, Compton said, though he added that there were about seven saloons who were also supplied electricity.

In 1925, the Town of Huntingdon sold its electric system to the Kentucky-Tennessee Power Company, which was located in McKenzie.

In April of 1933, Gov. Gordon Browning visited Muscle Shoals, Ala., with delegates from Alabama and Mississippi. They met with President Franklin Roosevelt to talk about the potential use of the Wilson Dam.

The Wilson Dam was built in 1918 to supply powder to make gun powder and nitrate for bombs during World War I. Following the war, the dam sat dormant and underutilized.

Gov. Browning’s conversation with President Roosevelt led to the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Roosevelt introduced the TVA as something that would convert the nitrate plant at the Wilson Dam to a place for fertilizer research and production.

“They were trying to cover up a little bit of the electric [side of the deal] I think,” Compton said.

When Congress found out that part of Tennessee would receive electricity from the dam and the government wouldn’t receive any profit, several legislators tried taking the issue to court to abolish the TVA.

In 1939, all court issues relating to the TVA were dismissed, and the dam began providing electricity to all areas under the TVA.

Gov. Browning wanted the state of Tennessee to be under one electric system at the time, but the Tennessee Electric Company and the TVA would not approve of it.

Instead, Browning worked to establish a countywide electric system in Carroll County. Thus, the Carroll County Electric Department was created and chartered in 1938.

Carroll County Electric bought out Kentucky-Tennessee Power, gaining control of electricity in McKenzie and Huntingdon. The electric department stayed in McKenzie for 10 more years before moving to its present building in Huntingdon.

Charlie Francisco became the first general manager of Carroll County Electric, taking over at midnight December 28, 1938.

“Mr. Charlie had his work cut out for him,” Compton said. He worked with the Rural Electric Administration, went to Washington, D.C., to ensure people in rural areas of the county received electricity.

But December 7, 1941 — the bombing at Pearl Harbor — stopped everything. All the materials needed to build power lines — all the copper, poles, transformers, insulators — were needed for the war effort. Everything became put on hold until World War II ended in 1945.

Following the war, the electric department resumed building power lines throughout the county. By 1951, almost everyone in Carroll County who wanted lights had lights.

“They finally decided that electricity wasn’t the work of the devil,” Compton said. “They started buying stoves, hot water heaters, electric cook stoves, washing machines, refrigerators, deep freezers.”

The county began offering classes on how to transition to electric appliances once they gained popularity.

The power lines initially built throughout the county were suddenly a little too small for the electricity demanded by the community. The lines became overloaded, especially in the rural areas, and had to be rebuilt to keep up with demand.

Many of the rebuilt lines from this time are still standing and providing power to the county.

Compton joined the Carroll County Electric Department after failing a physical to work with International Telephone and Telegraph.

“That was probably the best thing that ever happened to me,” Compton said.

Compton talked about how much the work has changed over the years. When he joined, linemen climbed poles using leather straps, and holes for power poles were dug by hand using post hole diggers.

He spoke about the 1971 tornado in Huntingdon and the 1974 ice storm that hit the county. Compton said the electric department started using bucket trucks after the 1974 ice storm.

Then Compton spoke about the 1994 ice storm, during which he served as general manager.

“The ‘94 ice storm was the big killer,” Compton said. “It got the entire county. I got to the office that morning at about five o’clock, and all 16,000 customers were without power.”

Safety became an issue for the electric department as repairs began. Police officers had to be stationed around the office, and many linemen had to be armed while repairing power lines. Crews from out of town refused to work in Carroll County unless they could carry pistols.

Compton said that people’s increasing reliance on electricity changed the way the electric department received complaints — largely due to the fact that people in the early days of electricity still had wood stoves and other appliances that they could use even without power. Now, most people do not have other modes to fall back on.

Today, the Carroll County Electric Department is one of only five county-operated electric departments across the country; three are in Tennessee, and two are in Nebraska. It supplies electricity to approximately 16,000 customers in Carroll County and parts of northern Henderson County.

The Huntingdon Historical Society’s next meeting is Wednesday, September 16. Attendees will learn about the history of the Portis House.