Pico House

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Main Street and Plaza showing the Pico House, the Merced Theater, and the Masonic Lodge. The first gas works can also be seen in the foreground the tanks were built in 1867, the Pico House and Merced Theater in 1870 and the Masonic Lodge in 1865.The gas tanks were built in 1867 when the LA Gas Compnay (forerunner of Southern California Gas Co.) installed the city's first streetlighting system consisting of 43 gas lamps along Main Street. By 1873, 136 gas lamps provided the outdoor night lighting for the City. Things would change in 1882 when electricity was introduced.