View of Fifth Avenue, an arc light and signs for Jeweler M. German and Dentist A. V. Bills at 845 Fifth Avenue, and Jewell and Co. Real Estate. The first arc light was placed at Fifth and F on March 16, 1886. Powered by an electrical plant at Second and J, the lights burned from sundown to midnight in clusters of six lamps on top of 125-foot steel masts. The daily carbon replacement and lamp adjustment made the lights very labor-intensive. Mast climber Carl Wiggins serviced a dozen towers a day, making his rounds on a bicycle.