Charlie Thompson was a frontier contractor, investor, and businessman, best known as the general contractor in charge of the original Capitol building and as partner in the first local electric franchise with Charles Gilman and backing from Alexander McKenzie.
It was in his role as general contractor in constructing the Capitol that Thompson acquired an eight-light plant from Van Depoele Electric Light Company in 1883 and wired the Capitol for electric light to be powered by these generators. For the sake of historic comparison, this was only four years after Thomas Edison invented the first viable incandescent light and the year after he founded his namesake Edison Electric Illuminating Company.
The first public power plant was completed in June of 1887, along with one hundred electric poles, and service began June 15th. At first, service was extremely limited. The city government was the first subscriber, implementing nine “arc lights of twelve hundred candle power each” to artificially light its streets. Burleigh County also installed two streetlights, at the courthouse and jail. The Sheridan House was the first private building to be lit, in 1888. The electric franchise was granted to Hughes Electric in 1894.
Thompson used leftover material from the Capitol to erect a personal mansion in the mid-to-late 1880s, which later became the Roanoke Hotel, Bishop’s House, and Saint Vincent’s Nursing Home.
A Mister Thompson was partner in financing the Dakota Block. While likely to have been Charlie Thompson, it’s not confirmed if it’s the same Thompson.
