Early arc lights such as this one required daily maintenance such as adjusting/replacing their carbon rods and cleaning the glass globe around them. Often they were mounted on long mast arms that hinged on the pole and were lowered down to street level via a release rope-pulley mechanism that was about eye level on the pole.

Click "Next" for a closer look at this fixture and the utility pole next to it.

New Bedford is a coastal city in southeast Massachusetts.