Take a minute and imagine what your life would be like without electricity. Then think about what rural areas throughout Pennsylvania must have been like without electricity 75+ years ago. Those who lived on the farms eked out a bare existence at best. Life in rural Pennsylvania without electric power was a series of never ending tasks, all performed by hand; the back-breaking labor of chopping wood, hauling ashes and water, emptying the slop bucket, filling the kerosene lamps, wick trimming, globe polishing. There was no T .V ., no lights, electric motor, electric heat, air conditioning, cooking, freezing, hot water…
Before 1935 electricity was available only to people who lived in or near cities or larger towns. In fact many people believed that farm families did not want - or even need - electricity. Things began to change rapidly, however, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order on May 11, 1935, creating the Rural Electrification Administration (REA), a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture charged with lending money to help get electricity to rural areas. It wasn't long before neighbors joined together to create nonprofit cooperatives in their area; cooperatives could borrow money from REA to build electrical systems. Within five years 14 consumer-owned cooperatives were formed in Pennsylvania.
WHAT PRESIDENT SIGNED AN EXECUTIVE ORDER CREATING THE RURAL ELECTRIFICATION ADMINISTRATION (REA), A BRANCH OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, CHARGED WITH LENDING MONEY TO HELP GET ELECTRICITY TO RURAL AREAS ???????
PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT = N 40 46.731 W 078 55.816
PRESIDENT THEODORE ROOSEVELT = N 40 47.675 W 078 55.476
CONGRATULATIONS TO schmuck&puttz FOR THE FTF