Town records indicate six arc lights were installed in the above town during the year. Four were in the downtown area; one is in the photo above, taken in 1901. These lights were much brighter than the incandescent ones they replaced. They produced about 1,200 candlepower (approximately 12,000 lumens or similar to the output of today's commercial-grade 500 watt lightbulb).

In addition an "improved pattern" of standard street lighting fixture began to replace many of the older ones which became a problem during wet weather. These were much more weatherproof and had Edison screw sockets for their lightbulbs opposed to sockets and bulbs of an outdated, problematic design.. Additional street lighting improvements included an additional series street lighting circuit from the private utility the town purchased their power from. This helped to alleviate overloading problems on the other two lines. The new line was known as "Circuit C" and connected to the generation facility in neighboring East Weymouth.

Hard pine poles were starting to decay around Hingham after only a few years of service. This was a significant and challenging problem for many other utilities in Massachusetts as well. Chestnut poles were the replacements and were known to last much longer. During 1901 pole upgrading began around town and continued for several years. These improvements assured ongoing good service and improved safety for the utility personnel that climbed them.