Photo Credit : The Bell Canada Historical Collection
Article written by Sigismund Mohr for Le Canadien, 30 septembre 1885.
Photo Credit : Vicky Lapointe
The Montmorency Falls hydroelectric station, constructed largely due to the efforts of Sigismund Mohr (1885).
Photo Credit : The Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network
Plaque for Sigismund Mohr in Quebec City, Canada, that reads…“Talented and inventive engineer who contributed mainly to the electricity in Quebec.”
Photo Credit : Plaques Canada
1826 - 1893
Sigismund Mohr
Sigismund Mohr was an engineer credited with discovering hydro-electricity, creating the first urban electrical grid, and introducing telephones to Quebec City.
Mohr was born in Wroclaw, Poland and came to Quebec City around 1871. He was granted the exclusive rights for seven years to establish a telegraph company in Quebec, which he did in 1876, called City District Telegraph Company. During this time, he also introduced telephones to Quebec City. In fact, he was convicted of creating “public obstacles” for putting up telephone poles in Buade Street in Quebec City. As Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone became increasingly popular, Mohr’s company won the province-wide rights to the invention. After successfully introducing telephones to Quebec, Mohr eventually became an agent of the newly created Bell Telephone Company of Canada.
Mohr then turned his attention to electrical power. On September 29, 1885, the Compagnie de lumière électrique de Québec et Lévis lit up Terrasse Dufferin by transporting the “fluid” created by Montmorency Falls and, as further described in le Canadien, “by means of an electric bell, the appearance of the terrace was transformed as if by a magic wand.” Once Mohr showed how he could stop and instantaneously restart the electrical current, people clamoured for the installation of electricity in their homes.
In November of 1893, Mohr caught influenza while trying to restore a damaged power line and died shortly thereafter, leaving a widow and six children, one of whom, Eugene Phillip, managed the company, overseeing Brooklyn’s telephone and electrical infrastructure.
