On November 14, 1935, nearly 500 people, including local, state, and national dignitaries, gathered in the shadow of the municipal light plant on the west bank of the Great Miami River in Piqua to watch as a wooden pole was set into the ground.
To most of the city-living population in Piqua (and everywhere else in the country, for that matter), it was just another utility pole. In truth, however, it marked the transformation of rural life in the United States. Owned by the fledgling Miami County Rural Electric Cooperative (known today as Pioneer Electric Cooperative), it was the first pole in the nation that had been financed by the brand-new Rural Electrification Administration — a key part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s plan to pull the nation out of the Great Depression — and the first bit of solid evidence that electricity was indeed on its way to America’s farms.
And that pole was a testament to the efforts of three local farmers: Paul Boerger, Bill Joslin, and Leonard U. Hill. “The triumph of rural electrification was not inevitable,” says Tom Musick, the current president and general manager of Pioneer Electric. “It happened because ordinary people like Joslin, Boerger, and Hill believed progress belonged to everyone, not just those in cities. They saw electricity not as a privilege, but as a necessity.”
Life without lights
In early the 1930s, life without electricity was the norm for farm families in Ohio and across the country. While city households already enjoyed the convenience of things like lights, refrigerators, and radios, the utilities of the day declined to extend service to rural areas, arguing it was too costly and unprofitable. Only about one in 10 rural homes had electricity; their rooms were lit with kerosene lamps, water was pumped by hand, food cooked on wood stoves.
Among those participating in the groundbreaking ceremony for the setting of nation’s first co-op utility pole were Murray Lincoln, executive secretary of the Ohio Farm Bureau (far left); and, with the shovels, W.R. Joslin and Leonard U. Hill, two of the driving forces who made it happen.
Joslin grew up in Sidney, and moved to Wyoming after high school to be a sheep rancher. After six years, he returned to Ohio to farm, and in 1917, he helped found the Shelby County Farm Bureau, laying the foundation for cooperative action. Reserved but determined, Joslin became known for his ability to earn trust and get results — he was well known for his mantra, “Let’s get it done” — and in 1935 he was the county farm bureau’s president.
Boerger had been raised in a town that had electricity, and when he began farming in rural Shelby County, he found it difficult to adapt to life without it. Carrying a lantern for chores was, for him, a daily reminder of the gap between city and country living.
Hill, who also hailed from Sidney, ran a farm in nearby Miami County. He and his neighbors had tried — unsuccessfully — to get electricity for their operations, so he knew firsthand both the hardships of farm life and the high cost demanded by private utilities, which was an insurmountable barrier to electrification. He was also active in the Farm Bureau, and in 1935 was the state secretary.
A New Deal
The Farm Bureau had already been working to find ways to expand electrification by the time Roosevelt’s New Deal created the REA in May of 1935, including sending letters to members outlining the possibilities for farmers. One who took great interest in that letter was Boerger, and the idea was still fresh in his mind a few days later when he noticed Works Progress Administration workers digging ditches by hand. He thought a tractor could do more in an hour than 100 men in a day, and it occurred to him that such federal labor could be put to more constructive use — like building power lines.
Immediately, he took his idea to Joslin at the county Farm Bureau. At the time, Joslin was preparing to attend a meeting in Columbus to learn more about the new REA — and true to his mantra, immediately began to educate himself to figure out how to get it done. He started to organize farmers, complete loan applications, and convince neighbors that electrification was both possible and practical.
Getting a jump
While state leaders were still developing a formal process, Boerger, too impatient to wait for official petitions, drafted his own and circulated it throughout Shelby County. It is believed to be the first rural electrification petition circulated in Ohio — possibly the first in the nation. Hill, meanwhile, as secretary of the Ohio Farm Bureau, played a key role in petitioning the REA for loans. So while Joslin organized the efforts and Boerger energized the people, Hill provided stability. When many farmers were skeptical of electricity or feared the costs, Hill reminded them that the cooperative belonged to local members and would be managed by them.
That was how, only five days after the first REA administrator was appointed, Joslin was among the Farm Bureau officials who went to Washington, D.C., ready to apply for a loan in the name of the Miami County Rural Electric Cooperative. By November, the REA had allotted $254,000 for Project 1A Miami to construct 193 miles of new lines — starting at that first pole next to the Piqua Municipal Light Plant.
The Piqua Daily Call described it as an “epochal event.” The Ohio Farmer wrote, “Perhaps the world’s greatest invention was the incandescent electric lamp. It symbolizes man’s triumph over the powers of darkness ... There was something of a spiritual glow, rivaling the electric light, in the eyes of those fortunate enough to be present at the ceremonies in Miami County last week when the first poles were set.”
The legacy
Hill became the first board president of the Miami County Rural Electric Cooperative, while Joslin was the first president of Shelby REMC. When the Miami, Shelby, and Champaign county co-ops merged to form Pioneer Electric Cooperative six months later, Joslin stayed as president with Hill as vice president. Joslin would remain in his position until 1961, overseeing the co-op’s expansion and ensuring thousands of homes were connected.
On June 15, 1936, the Charles McKinney residence, two miles south of Piqua, was the first home energized by the cooperative. By 1937, Pioneer had 3,000 members and over 1,000 miles of line. Today, Pioneer Electric Cooperative has more than 15,000 members and nearly 3,000 miles of line. Its members still include farmers and other rural residents, but also manufacturing plants, distribution centers, and a variety of small businesses.
So nearly 90 years after that first pole went up in Piqua, the impact of Joslin, Boerger, and Hill is still felt; every light switch flipped in those homes and businesses carries the legacy of the three farmers who refused to let their neighbors remain in the dark.
