Niagara, Lockport and Ontario Power Company

Product Details

Nicely engraved antique stock certificate from the Niagara, Lockport and Ontario Power Company dating back to the 1920's. This document, which is signed by the company Vice President and Assistant Secretary, was printed by the Franklin-Lee Division of the American Bank Note Company, and measures approximately 11 1/4" (w) by 7 1/2" (h).

This certificate's vignette features a female allegorical figure holding a light. Storage tanks appear at the left and a trolley at the right.

Images

You will receive the exact certificate pictured.

Historical Context

In 1905, a syndicate headed by John J. Albright and Henry Herman Westinghouse (brother of George Westinghouse) acquired control Niagara, Lockport and Ontario Power Company from Joseph G. Robin and his associates. The purchasing syndicate included: Albright, Westinghouse, the New York Central Railroad, Vanderbilt interests, and Horace E. Andrews, of Cleveland (president of the New York State Railways, the Mohawk Valley Company, the Rochester Railway & Light Company, the Michigan Central Railroad, West Shore Railroad, Schenectady Railway Company, Havana Railway, Light & Power Company, among others.

By 1908, the company had approximately 400 miles of transmission lines running from Devil's Hole through Lockport and Rochester to Syracuse, a total distance of 167 miles from the distributing station. It had branch lines running to West Seneca, Batavia, Caledonia, Avon, Auburn, and Baldwinsville near Syracuse. The right of way for the lines was owned by the company and was 300 feet in width from the Niagara River to Lockport, 200 feet from Lockport to Rochester, and 75 feet the remainder of the way to Syracuse. The company also leased a right of way on the West Shore Railroad from near Akron to Syracuse. In January 1918, Niagara, Lockport and Ontario Power Company acquired the Salmon River Power Company, which operated their own hydroelectric power plant in Salmon River, New York on the shore of Lake Ontario.

Later in 1943, the Niagara, Lockport and Ontario Power Company reorganized as the Niagara Hudson Company, Inc., and became a subsidiary of Niagara Hudson Power Corporation which was a conglomerate of 59 separate power companies in Western New York formed in 1929 and in 1932, was the "nation's largest electric utility company". In 1950, Niagara Hudson Power Corporation reorganized as the Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation and in January 2002, Niagara Mohawk was acquired by, and became a subsidiary of, National Grid plc.