Treehugger alerted me to the rather surprising story of this light bulb, burning continuously since 1901. Yeah, at least that’s the story here, at the Centennial Light Bulb Committee’s website (a partnership of the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department, Livermore Heritage Guild, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, and Sandia National Laboratories).
The bulb is said to have been made by the Shelby Electric Company of Shelby, Ohio, and given to the fire department by Dennis Bernal, owner the Livermore Power and Light Co. The 4-watt bulb was first installed at the fire department hose cart house in 1901, moved to the fire station at First and McLeod, and in 1976 move to it’s current location as a “nightlight over the fire trucks” at the fire station at 4550 East Ave, Livermore, California.
Yeah, there’s even a webcam you can check.
It’s been recognized by the Guinness Book folks, as well as Ripley’s, though it does have some competition (a 1908 bulb in Texas is said to be still glowing). Fortunately, the city plans to keep nightlight on as long as it can. You can visit the bulb weekdays, 8 AM to 5 PM.