The first power pole was erected and dedicated on November 10, 1937 in Horton, KS. Brown-Atchison REC was the first REA financed co-op in Kansas.
This widely published photo, known as the "Four Horsemen of the Lines," features four local farmers who were hired in 1938 to construct the first 88 miles of line for Brown-Atchison REC.
This photo was displayed at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., in 1987 to promote the 50th anniversary of the REA.
Text of Marker
"At this site the first power pole for the Brown-Atchison Electric Cooperative was dedicated in special ceremony on November 10, 1937. Brown-Atchison was the first rural electric project to energize in Kansas financed by loan funds from the Rural Electrification Administration (REA). On April 1, 1938, central-station electricity generated at the Horton Power Plant was sent into the first section of line to farms in Brown and Atchison counties, signaling an end to darkness and drudgery for rural people. Thirty-eight other electric cooperatives followed in Kansas to deliver the wonders of electricity into every rural area of the state. Rural electrification became known as the best "hired hand" the farmer/rancher could have. Few other occurrences have impacted so positively on rural areas as has the rural electrification program.
"This marker is dedicated to all the rural electric cooperative pioneers in Kansas who proved that working together for their own and the common good, produces a better life for themselves and their neighbors."
Erected by Kansas Electric Cooperatives and Kansas State Historical Society, 1987.
