Lewis H. Latimer House

Location: 34-41 137th Street
Phone: (718) 961-8585
Description: The Lewis H. Latimer House is a modest Queen Anne-style, wood-frame suburban residence constructed in Flushing, Queens between 1887 and 1889 by the Sexton family. Lewis Howard Latimer, an African-American inventor and electrical pioneer and the son of fugitive slaves, lived in the house from 1903 until his death in 1928. During his career, he worked with three of the greatest scientific inventors in American history, including Alexander Graham Bell, Hiram S. Maxim, and Thomas Alva Edison. He played a critical role in the development of the telephone and, as Edison's chief draftsman, he invented and patented the carbon filament, a significant improvement in the production of the incandescent light bulb. Over the course of his career, Latimer supervised the installation of street lighting and the construction of electric plants in many American cities, as well as London and Montreal. Today, exhibitions and public programs call attention to Latimer's and other African Americans' contributions to science, technology and American life.

House Site: https://latimernow.org/