In 1888, through the ingenuity of developer and engineer Walter B. Devereux, Glenwood Springs received electric lights. Devereux was a local leader in developing hydroelectric power, and by 1886 he had successfully lighted Aspen's mines, homes, and businesses, making Colorado history as one of the first to supply a town with commercially available electricity. In 1886, on the north side of the Colorado River near the foot of today's Grand Avenue bridge, he erected a coal-fired, steam-driven electric power plant. For consumers, the flip of a switch ended the days of kerosene lamps. In December 1887, Devereux replaced the coal-powered plant with a new hydroelectric structure. Today, the hydroelectric building just east of the Hot Springs Pool is on the National Register of Historic Places and houses the Glenwood Springs Center for the Arts.