Undergraduate student Jeanie Duwan excavating pipe trench associated with the gas works.

Investigations at the Gas Works, Ashland, The Henry Clay Estate

Documentary and archaeological investigations of the self-contained gas works that provided interior lighting at Ashland during the late nineteenth century revealed intact evidence of the installation and use of a Springfield Gas Machine system. Both documentary and physical evidence suggest that the system was installed ca. 1882 when Ashland was purchased and renovated by Henry Clay McDowell and his wife, Anne Smith Clay McDowell. Evidence that the system was installed during the McDowells‘ tenure includes the following:

1. While patent dates on the Ashland gas generator are January 8, 1867, July 16, 1867, April 21, 1868 and August 3, 1869; the generator is made of Bessemer steel rather than copper indicating that it postdates 1874.
2. Patent dates on two types of Argand gas burners found in the house are February 22, 1887, 1867, and 1875. Patent dates for a mica insulating joint found in the house are April 7, 1891, July 5, 1894 and October 19, 1892, indicating that the joint could not have been purchased until after 1894.
3. The McDowells are thought to have installed a gas fixture on the newel post of the front stair in the entrance hall after having rebuilt the stair in the popular Eastlake style.
4. John Bowman, Regent for Kentucky University which owned the house and estate from 1866 to 1882, only lived in the house from approximately 1866 to 1877. No mention of any gas works installation was found in the Kentucky University Board of Curator minutes for these years. In addition, after 1874, the financial situation of the Ashland campus worsened as did Bowman‘s relationship with the Board, leading to his eventual ouster. As the system was likely installed after 1874, as indicated by its steel construction, the financial constraints of the University make it unlikely that the expenses of a gas works would have been approved, particularly for an unpopular administrator.

Sketch of a self-contained gas system (Benjamin 1880s).

The Springfield Gas Machine was fueled with gasoline fed into a generator unit placed underground and away from the house. Utilizing geophysical survey data, provided by Dr. R. Berle Clay of Cultural Resource Analysts, Inc., the generator was discovered under approximately 1.4 m of earth with the front section and controls exposed and accessible in a brick-lined shaft. The brick shaft was accessed via a trap door and ladder. A pair of pipes ran underground from the generator to the basement; one was attached to an air pump to supply pressurized air to the generator, while the other delivered gas to a network of pipes for distribution to fixtures throughout the house.

The air pump was a cylindrical copper or steel shell housing a wheel and partially filled with water. A heavy concrete weight was suspended from the basement ceiling beams and attached by a wire cable to the shaft of the pump wheel. The weight for the Ashland system, marked Springfield Gas Machine, is still present in the basement. As gravity caused the weight to descend, the wheel inside the pump case was turned, forcing air through the connecting pipe. By this means, a constant pressure of air was maintained in the air pipe, the gas generator, and in the burners in the house‘s fixtures.

Springfield gas machine at Ashland.

The gas generator at Ashland was constructed of steel, indicating that it was a later model dating after 1874. It was cylindrical in shape and contained of four evaporating pans or chambers, arranged one above another, and divided by frames. A suitable capillary material was stretched over the frames. Air entered the generator from the air pump pipe and moved through each of the evaporator chambers. The gasoline was vaporized in the chambers and the pressurized air-gas mixture was conveyed back to the house where it was distributed to the burners. This system made it possible for gas always to be present at the burners as long as the system was properly maintained. If the burner cocks were closed when lights were not in use, gas would not escape and a constant pressure was maintained in the system.

Gas fixtures are still present in the house at Ashland, and most are found on the first floor. Extant fixtures are predominantly bracket types mounted on walls near windows, doors, or fireplaces. Six chandeliers or pendants that are now fitted for electricity were originally gas fueled. Two lamps mounted on the newel posts of two staircases also once were powered by gas. Two gas fixtures were discovered in the third floor attic of the house but none were found on the second floor, although two holes where two brackets may have once been were observed in the floor of the Henry Clay bedroom. Utilizing two methods of calculating the total number of original gas fixtures and burners in the house, it is suggested that there were about 38-40 fixtures containing between 60-70 burners.

The gas generator at Ashland measured 69.7 in. in diameter and 25.6 in. high. The dimensions of the gas generator do not match any of the sizes for the models listed in the 1874 catalog issued by Gilbert and Barker Manufacturing Company. However, based on the catalog, the generator‘s estimated 280 ft.2 of evaporating surface was probably capable of powering 100-150 burners. This system would have been more than adequate for the lights in the house.

The gas works at Ashland represents a significant incident of modernization in the history of the estate. Installation of gas lighting brought the rural Ashland estate up to the urban standard for upper class residences in terms of interior lighting. The large number of fixtures on the first floor with substantially fewer fixtures on the upper floors suggests that the installation of gas lights was as much about social status and public image as increased comfort and convenience, since the first floor contained rooms used for entertaining and interaction with friends and business associates. The gas lights of Ashland thus served a dual purpose – improving the lighting in the house and demonstrating that the family was up-to-date, stylish, and of means. The system remained in use in the house until approximately 1907 when Mrs. McDowell negotiated a contract for the installation of electric service. While the two systems may have operated concurrently for a time, the superiority of electricity made the gas works obsolete and it was abandoned. For nearly two decades, there shone "a brilliant and pleasant light" in the elegant rooms of Ashland, powered by gasoline now far better known for its role in the adoption of yet another ubiquitous symbol of modern life, the automobile.

A full report is available as Technical Report No. 413. Also see "A Brilliant and Pleasant Light": Investigating The Springfield Gas Machine System at Ashland, The Henry Clay Estate, Lexington, Kentucky" by Donald W. Linebaugh, Nancy O'Malley, and Jeanie Duwan, Historical Archaeology, 2000, 34(4):82-100.