Melanie Highsmith with the Riley County Historical Museum will present the “History of Electric Lights in Manhattan: A City in a New Light!” at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13, in the Event Center.

As industrialization increased throughout the nineteenth century, the ability to light homes, businesses, and streets was imperative to progress. In Manhattan, public interest brought about technological changes, and lamps gave way to incandescent electric lights. Historic photographs and newspaper articles demonstrate how the town modernized from the 1850s to 1950s.