Gasholder Building

In 1885, workers discovered an abundant supply of natural gas at Lawnfield and built a stone-and-brick gasholder building. A few years later, workers drilled a new 800-foot-deep gas well and, in 1893, reduced the gasholder building by one-half when building the Carriage House. With this system, Lucretia Garfield owned her own gas works for her household lighting, heating, and cooking fixtures. Inside, a five-foot-deep metal storage tank held the natural gas until it was piped into the main house. The circular tank, about 20 feet in diameter, rose and fell with the amount of gas it held. Eventually, public utilities supplied natural gas and, by 1944, the gaslight fixtures had been converted to electric lighting.

Mentor, Ohio · United States