Bringing Electricity to Rural America
In the early 1930s, electricity was still a luxury for most rural American families. Roughly nine out of every 10 rural homes were without electric power, leaving farm families to rely on traditional methods to complete daily chores and operate their homes.
Without electricity, rural families made the most of every available hour of daylight. Outdoor chores on farms often began early and continued until sunset because there was little practical way to illuminate fields, barns and other work areas after dark. Once night arrived, families typically relied on kerosene lanterns to light their homes.
For American farmers and rural communities, access to electricity would eventually become an important part of modernization. Electric power could provide new opportunities for farm families and change the way work was performed both on the farm and in the home.
The Tennessee Valley Authority Begins a New Era
A major step toward expanding electricity and infrastructure in rural America came in May 1933, when the Tennessee Valley Authority Act was passed. The Tennessee Valley Authority became an important part of efforts to develop the Tennessee Valley, including the generation and distribution of electric power.
The following year brought another significant development. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act in 1934, helping establish a federal effort to expand electric service into rural areas that had largely been left without access to commercial electricity.
The goal was not simply to bring electric lights into rural homes. Electrification had the potential to change agricultural life by making modern equipment and appliances increasingly practical for farm families.
Rural America Waits for Widespread Electricity
Although the federal government began taking steps toward rural electrification during the 1930s, widespread access did not happen overnight.
It would take more than two decades before electric service reached a majority of rural America. By the mid-1950s, a majority of rural Americans finally had access to electric service.
The transformation represented a major change from the conditions of the early 1930s, when most rural homes remained without electricity and families routinely depended on daylight and kerosene lanterns.
For farm families, rural electrification became part of the broader transformation of American agriculture during the 20th century. Electricity helped rural communities move toward a more modern way of life and eventually became an essential part of everyday farming and rural living.
From kerosene lanterns after sunset to widespread electric service, the history of rural electrification illustrates how infrastructure helped reshape the American countryside.
This has been Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute.