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Welcome to Belden Electric

No matter what your electrical needs, we have the right solution at the right price.

Charles H. Belden (1859-1945) was a teacher and an inspiration to his son, Russell. "C.H.", as he was known, was a true pioneer in the young electrical industry.

Charles had begun his working career as a printer in New Britain, Connecticut, but became interested in electricity when two physics professors received financial backing to build a plant to manufacture generators and street lighting equipment in New Britain. Charles managed an interview with Elihu Thompson, one of the professors, and must have impressed him because he was hired to work for the new Thompson Houston Co. (which became part of the General Electric Co.) This was the year 1879 and everything electrical was new. Few had any experience. Everything was experimental. To work under the direction of Professor Thompson and Professor Edwin Houston, to develop better products in the laboratory, and in the shop, to improve lighting and electrical traction systems (trolleys) was the equivalent to receiving an electrical engineering education.

In 1885, Charles was sent to Saint Louis to design and install street lighting. While there, the company made key breakthroughs in the operation of electric railway cars. In the summer of 1890, now with a wife and one child, he was ordered to go to Joplin, MO to design and put in operation an electrical railway transportation system. The whole family was certain they were being sent to the ends of the earth. He considered refusing the order. He was sure, from what he was able to learn, that the rough mining town would not be the proper environment for his wife and child, and it would certainly put him out of touch with the advancements of the industry. On the other hand, the current economy was not too great, and he reasoned that just having a job had a great deal of value. He decided to put the experience in a positive light, that to establish this system would be quite a challenge and he would be an expert in this backwater town.

After five hard years with the Southwest Missouri Railway Co., Charles tried his luck at mining, but with a family to support (three children now) he felt too insecure and assumed the position of superintendent of the Home Telephone Company in 1897. The owners of the telephone company were ultra conservative, and refused to modernize and expand the service as rapidly as the growing city demanded.

Charles determined that the telephone company had ceased to be a challenge as well as having lost its potential for income improvement.

In 1899, Charles went into business as the Belden Electric Supply Company. The company operated out of one room at the back of the family home at 310 Pearl. His initial inventory consisted of 100 assorted light bulbs, a box of porcelain sockets, ten coils of size 14 wire, a coil of lamp cord, and a barrel of porcelain knobs and tubes.

Gradually, Electricity began to come in "off the streets" and into homes and businesses. Initially only as "Light", but more and more the mines were finding that they could use electricity for "Power".

The business was moderately successful, as the company wired many of the homes of the wealthy, and landed first the Connor Hotel and the Frisco Building. Charles built a new home (moving the original one to the back of the lot) and started the Chandelier Shop as the year 1914 closed.

One great opportunity came about just before World War I, and continued after the war, was the Post Office Department's drive to electrify all the post offices in the country. Actually, many of the old post offices only required four to six lights and a switch. The challenge was to get the power to the building, and to get the job done in a day or less.

The company wired hundreds of these post offices over the years and must have had a clause in their contract that gave them a free post office box for a year or so because they had stationary listing 40 or 50 locations where the Belden Company could be reached.

Even so, the growth of the industry was limited by lack of products.

As with most wars, along with the horrors and losses, there traditionally has been an emphasis on new technology. So it was with electricity. The whole industry boomed throughout the 1920's, along with the rest of the economy. Charles's business, The Belden Electric Supply Company, literally exploded with activity, diversifying geographically, and becoming more of a supply company, as its name suggested, while leaving the retail/installation business to the Chandelier Shop. Charles couldn't divorce himself entirely from application of the new products, and contracted a number of industrial and commercial installations under the "BESCO" title.

The Belden Supply Co. (and family) was unprepared and greatly overextended after the bottom dropped out of the economy. At first, like many others, they thought it wouldn't affect them much. They were wrong and the company finally went bankrupt.

However, under the guidance of Charles's youngest son, Russell, a new business emerged - The Russell Belden Electric Company.