An important page in atomic history was written here on July 17, 1955, when the lights of Arco were successfully powered from atomic energy. Chosen by the Atomic Energy Commission as an experiment in the peaceful use of atomic power, Arco, Idaho became the first town in the free world to be served by electrical energy developed from the atom. The energy for this experiment was produced at the National Reactor Testing Station in the Arco desert southeast of here.