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From the Archives: Lights in Buffalo, Missouri

  • Renee Glass
  • Sep 7, 2024
  • 3 min read

Updated: Apr 25

Few inventions have had as broad and significant an impact as the electric light. The proliferation of electricity and artificial light in the late 19th and early 20th centuries had far-reaching effects on commerce, culture, and even human health.


However, the adoption of the electric light did not occur all at once. The United States was electrified piecemeal, and not without some resistance. In 1911, the citizens of Buffalo, Missouri took to the polls to determine whether an electric light and power plant should be established in their town. The following article from the March 2, 1911 issue of the Buffalo Reflex implores readers to vote in favor of the proposition.



On Saturday of this week the voters of Buffalo are called upon to exercise their right of suffrage on the proposition of granting to [James] A. Bonner the right to construct and operate an electric light and power plant here. We consider this special election the most important in the history of Buffalo, as upon the disposition of this proposition, to a great extent depends the future growth and progress of the town. The franchise is a reasonable one and if granted it means that Buffalo will put on the appearance of a wide-awake, progressive city and other and better improvements can be looked for. If defeated the public will get the idea that we are divided, that personal rather than public opinion and welfare controls our actions, that the success of any public enterprise is doubtful and that future growth and improvements will be slow, because nobody likes a town where civic pride and enterprise is dead.


We have heard it hinted that a few citizens would like to see the proposition defeated; that they are misrepresenting the terms of the franchise and their work is the result of personal grudges. While this may be true, we are inclined to disbelieve it and only by active opposition by such persons on election day could we be convinced that we have men with such diminutive souls as this. We believe that the people will vote ‘yes’ and that the returns will show that while we may have our little political and business differences, in matters of public welfare, we are a unit.


The official ballot is published in today’s Reflex. Read it carefully so that you can vote promptly and correctly.


A newspaper clipping of ballot language for a March 4, 1911 proposition to build an electric light and power plant in Buffalo, Missouri. Text reads: Official Ballot For Special Election, March 4, 1911. If you favor the franchise and rights mentioned below, erase the word No. If you oppose the granting thereof, erase the word Yes. For consenting to the granting to James A. Bonner, his associates and assigns, the right to construct, erect, maintain and operate electric light and power works in the City of Buffalo, Mo., for a period of twenty years, and to lay, hand and place the pipes and wires, erect the posts, poles and other necessary apparatus and appliances therefor as provided in Ordinance No. 281 of said city: Yes. No.
Ballot language for the 1911 proposition to grant James A. Bonner the right to build and operate an electric light and power plant in Buffalo Missouri. From the March 2, 1911 issue of the Buffalo Reflex.

The following are designated places at which the election will be held; 1st and 2nd wards, at public school buildings, 3rd ward at W.J. Blakey’s business house.



Voters in Buffalo passed the proposition in a special election on March 4, 1911. The August 10, 1911 issue of the Reflex reported that "the people of Buffalo are now enjoying the convenience and satisfaction given by a first-class electric light plant."


A black and white photograph of Bonner Mill in Buffalo, Missouri as it appeared in 1916. The mill is a three-story brick building with attached brick silos.
Bonner Mill as it appeared in 1916. In addition to providing electricity to the people of Buffalo, Bonner Mill was also home to an ice plant. Image from Reflexions: A Pictorial History of Buffalo and Dallas County, Missouri.

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Note

This blog article was originally published September 7, 2024 by Renee Glass. It was republished with minor edits March 17, 2026 by Brandon Broughton.


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