Wood County History
By LOU MALLORY - Chairperson, Wood County Historical Commission
Thomas Alva Edison invented the electric light bulb in 1879 but it would be six decades before rural Wood County residents would have the power required to turn the lights on.
In 1915 engineers had determined that they could provide power from central stations to anyone within 100 miles. However, power companies felt it was not economically feasible because homes were too far apart in many regions and the population was sparse.
Only about 11 percent of the nation had electric power in the early 1930s. In Texas, only about three percent of rural homes had power.
President Franklin Roosevelt, Senator George Norris of Nebraska and Congressman Sam Rayburn of Bonham, Texas would bring change about. Wood County would be among the first in Texas to see change come but it would not come easily.
Roosevelt tried to get rural electrification done via executive order. This met resistance and he turned the project over to Senator Norris and Congressman Rayburn.
In January 1936, these two men introduced legislation that created the Rural Electrification Administration (REA). The legislation passed that spring. It authorized millions of dollars for low0interest loans to consumer-owned and operated electrical cooperatives to erect the power poles and run the lines. The REA changed the face of America and the way country people lived.
In the early spring of 1937, a group of Wood County residents met in the county courthouse in Quitman and agreed to seek a REA loan to construct an electrical system for the area. But they were unable to secure the loan. The REA felt that the possibilities in East Texas were so poor the loan was refused.
However, later, with the help of Congressman Morgan Sanders of Canton and Congressman Rayburn, a loan was approved and the Wood County Electric Co-operative was approved amidst the difficulties of the Great Depression.
The first loan of $103,000 was approved in November 1937 and a charter was obtained. A second loan of $313,000 was approved in December 1938.
A contract for construction followed and work began in May 1938. On October 7th that year the first lines were energized for 210 members of the co-op on 120 miles of line, all in Wood County. The fee to become a member of the co-operative was $5.
As of the mid 1990s, there were 3,734 miles of line. The annual billing was $25,636,000 and the co-op had 85 employees plus an annual payroll of $2,987,000. In the year 1994, the co-op paid #365,000 in property taxes to the cities, counties and school districts where it operated.
Minutes of the board of directors show that on May 7th, 1940, the minimum bill was set at one dollar per month. This paid for the first 11 kilowatt hours of electricity. For a farmer using up to 200 hours a month, the cost boiled down to about 2 cents per kilowatt hour, a tremendous bargain. As of the mid 1990s, the minimum bill was $8 a month. The charge per kilowatt hour varied from month to month depending on costs to the co-op. It was reported that as of May 1995, the price was about 6 cents per kilowatt hour. During this period, the average permanent residence in the WCEC area used about 1,000 kilowatt hours per month.
Two things were done to encourage the farmers and their wives during the bleak day of the Depression. Low-interest financing was offered for both wiring and plumbing for the home as well as the farm. It was reported that it was basically the farm wife who led the push for electrification as she realized how much sheer drudgery would be lifted from her shoulders. A washing machine could replace the old wash board. Irons would no longer need to be heated and reheated over a fire and an electric refrigerator would offer new possibilities in storing food. No longer would oil lamps need to be carried from one room to another. Rural life would be so much easier.
The WCEC also financed the development of the Quitman Refrigeration Co-op, a locker plant for co-op members to store large amounts of food. The demand for the lockers was so great that facilities were later built in Grand Saline, Mineola, Hawkins, Van and Winnsboro.
A local newspaper advertisement in January of 1940 informed residents that wiring, and plumbing plus the purchase of farm equipment and appliances could be purchased at six percent interest with a 20 percent down payment. Payments could be made when crops were sold.
A little over a year after the lines were first energized, the WCEC had expanded its service from the initial 120 miles to a total of 450 miles.
The cooperative was also involved in bringing the REA's electrical "circus" to Wood County. The circus was a traveling exhibit promoting electrical equipment with may farm applications. One report at the time stated that demonstrations were offered showing how running water could be used to increase poultry production, and also in the dairy, in the pig yard, in fire protection and for effortless filling of stock tanks as well as other purposes. A new era began with the start of World War II. The production of food and fiber for the war effort became a priority. While restrictions were applied to most type of construction, the War Production Board rarely hesitated when it came to making allowance for short-line extensions of power lines.
When the war ended, the demand for goods and services, especially electric appliances, skyrocketed. Wood County was now oil rich and the WCEC continued to grow. It grew from the original 210 members in 1938 to 8,600 families in 1967, with annual billings of four and one-half million dollars. By the mid 1990s, the WCEC almost tripled its membership and increased its billings five and one-half times.
Unlike the days before the Co-op was born, millions of lights celebrate the holiday season in cities across Wood County
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