Boston was served by the Edison Electric Illuminating Company until assumed by Boston Edison in the late 1930s. Here is a street scene depicting a typical Boston neighborhood as it looked about 100 years ago. The pole line on the right provided electric service. The bracketed poletop extension crossarm as seen here in the foreground either served for additional electric distribution or for fire alarm telegraph purposes. FYI...It was commonplace prior to the 1910's here in the northeast to place the latter on the tops of poles. By 1920 fire alarm lines ran beneath secondary (customer-voltage) distribution and still does where hard-wired fire alarm call boxes still remain (albeit in many communities here in the Boston area).