Rural Electrification
Oneida Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
In 1936 seventy-five percent of Pennsylvania farms had no electric service. During the next five years, with Federal support, 14 consumer-owned cooperatives were formed in this State. Valley Rural Electric Cooperative, serving seven counties from headquarters at Huntingdon, was incorporated November 1, 1938.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In 1936 three-quarters of Pennsylvania's farms still had no electricity, leaving rural families to a life without electric light, pumps, or motors. With federal support, fourteen consumer-owned cooperatives sprang up across the state over the next five years to string wire where private utilities would not. The Valley Rural Electric Cooperative, incorporated here in 1938, brought power to seven counties from its Huntingdon headquarters.
Why it matters
Rural electrification transformed daily life across the American countryside, closing the gap between farm and city in one of the New Deal's most lasting achievements.
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