In celebration of Morlights attending the 2025 American Alliance of Museums (AAM) Meeting & Musuem Expo, we’re revisiting the luminous legacy of Los Angeles - the city Jim Morrison once sang of as the ultimate American “city of light.”
From gas lamps to smart poles, LA’s street lighting tells a parallel story to its freeways, suburbs, and cinematic mythologies - an engineered landscape shaped by design, innovation, and civic ambition.
1867 – The Dawn of Gas Lighting
In 1867, the Los Angeles Gas Company installed 43 gas lamps along Main Street, marking the city’s first formal street lighting effort. Lamplighters on horseback lit each one at dusk, offering uneven but essential illumination for a growing frontier town.
1882 – Embracing Electric Illumination
On December 30, 1882, Mayor James R. Toberman flipped the switch on LA’s first electric streetlights. These towering 150-foot “Brush” arc lights cast a moonlike glow and represented a major leap in public lighting.
1905 – Introduction of Ornamental Lighting
By 1905, Los Angeles began installing ornamental streetlamps along Broadway. With multiple globes and cast-iron detailing, these fixtures blended function and form, establishing a civic aesthetic that endures today.
1925 – Establishment of the Bureau of Street Lighting
As the city starts to sprawl, the Bureau of Street Lighting was formed to manage and standardize streetlight infrastructure, recognizing lighting as an essential element of urban planning alongside roads and water systems.
1928 – The Wilshire Special and Design Diversity
The “Wilshire Special,” introduced in 1928, was a bronze, stylized fixture created specifically for the Miracle Mile, one of LA’s first car-centric boulevards. It marked the city’s embrace of design tailored to neighborhood identity.
1950s–1980s – Rise of the "Cobra-Head" Lights
Post-WWII expansion brought the utilitarian “cobra-head” streetlight to prominence. Known for their curved arms and downcast light, these fixtures became ubiquitous in neighborhoods and commercial zones during LA’s rapid growth.
1984 – Deborah Sussman's Olympic Supergraphics and Civic Identity
During the 1984 Olympics, designer Deborah Sussman transformed LA’s public spaces using vivid supergraphics with large-scale signage, color, and lighting that temporarily turned the city’s infrastructure into a bold, pop-art stage set.
2009 – Transition to LED Lighting
In 2009, LA launched the world’s largest streetlight retrofit, replacing over 140,000 sodium-vapor bulbs with energy-efficient LEDs. The switch cut energy use by over 60% and laid the groundwork for a smart-city platform.
2020 – The "Superbloom" Smart Streetlight Design
Ahead of the 2028 Olympics, LA debuted the "Superbloom,"a modular, multi-use streetlight designed by Project Room. These poles integrate EV chargers, pedestrian lighting, and 5G infrastructure, reflecting the city’s forward-thinking approach to public design.
A Legacy of Light
Nothing quite matches the glow of LA. From Chris Burden’s Urban Light installation at LACMA (featuring 202 restored lamps) to the city’s own Streetlight Museum, Los Angeles continues to honor the art and impact of illumination in its urban fabric.
References and Notes
- Early gas lighting in Los Angeles: Water and Power Associates Museum: https://www.waterandpower.org/museum/Early_Bureau_of_Power_and_Light_Streetlights_Page_1.html
- First electric streetlight, 1882: Flickr photo by clamshack: https://www.flickr.com/photos/91981316@N06/52268901674
- Broadway ornamental streetlights: PBS SoCal "Lost LA": https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/lost-la/los-angeles-vintage-street-lights
- Bureau of Street Lighting Museum: LA Bureau of Street Lighting: https://lalights.lacity.org/about/museum.html
- Wilshire Special design: Miracle Mile LA: https://miraclemilela.com/the-miracle-mile/historical-photos/%22wilshire-special%22-streetlight-circa-1928/
- Cobra-head streetlights: Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Cobra_head_lighting_in_the_United_States
- LED retrofit program, 2009: Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/justingerdes/2013/07/31/los-angeles-completes-worlds-largest-led-street-light-retrofit/
- Superbloom smart poles: Dwell: https://www.dwell.com/article/superbloom-streetlight-project-room-design-collective-los-angeles-6d18cc66
- Deborah Sussman and the 1984 Olympics: Sussman/Prejza: https://sussmanprejza.com/project/1984-los-angeles-olympics/
- Chris Burden’s "Urban Light" at LACMA: LACMA Collections: https://collections.lacma.org/node/214966