Lester Wire

American police officer and inventor of the electric traffic light (1887–1958)

Lester Farnsworth Wire (September 3, 1887 – April 14, 1958) was an American police officer and inventor. He is credited with the invention of the electric traffic light in 1912. A native of Salt Lake City, Utah, Wire worked as a traffic officer and later as a detective for the Salt Lake City Police Department (SLCPD). He was prompted to invent his electric traffic light while heading the SLCPD's Traffic Bureau. His first traffic light, built of wood, was installed in downtown Salt Lake City in 1912. Though initial public sentiment viewed Wire's traffic light with curiosity and disapproval, it was gradually accepted over time, and by 1926 the city was operating a system of automated traffic lights based on Wire's invention. Wire continued to work on traffic light designs throughout his life, and later fully redesigned his traffic light using a metal frame. Wire never patented his traffic lights, and by the 1960s, both of the original models had been lost. However, his work played a significant role in the later development and widespread adoption of the traffic light in the United States. Commemorative replicas of Wire's traffic lights have been built over the years since the loss of the originals, and his contributions to modern traffic management are memorialized by the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT).

Lester Wire was born on September 3, 1887, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Frank and Lida Wire. He had three sisters: Ora, Zelta, and Edith. He and his family were Mormons. In 1897, Lester and his sisters became sick with diphtheria, but Frank and Lida, themselves believing in Christian Science, believed the best treatment for their children's illness was prayer, and did not have them seek treatment or self quarantine; Frank would also later claim he believed they were only stricken with mumps. When 4 year old Ora and 8 year old Zelta died of their illnesses, a controversy erupted, and Frank was ultimately charged with manslaughter. In 1909, he was enrolled in the University of Utah as a law student, but found it too expensive and quit to become a police officer like his father.

Wire joined the Salt Lake City Police Department in 1910. An expert marksman, he competed in marksmanship competitions as part of the SLCPD's "revolver team", and was well regarded by his fellow officers. and no cities in Utah, if not the entire United States, had any operating traffic light systems. Concerned about his officers' working conditions (they would have to stand in the middle of the road for long hours even in inclement weather), and realizing traffic and intersections in the city would continue to outnumber and overwhelm anyone trying to manage them alone, Wire sought to devise a better and safer way to control traffic. With Matthew 5:15 as his inspiration ("Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all"), Wire envisioned the electric traffic signal. The traffic light was mounted to a 10 foot pole, wired to the electrical lines of the city's trolley system, and hand operated by a police officer in a booth at the side of the road. It was installed at the intersection of Main Street and 200 South in downtown Salt Lake City in 1912. He attempted to regain his position in the SLCPD as the Traffic Bureau's sergeant, but the officer who took his position did not wish to give it up, so Wire instead returned to regular patrol and, on January 8, 1920, joined the Detective Bureau. Like Wire, Potts did not apply for a patent. The first inventor of a traffic light to do so was Garrett Morgan, who in 1923 patented his invention of a three way traffic light with "STOP" and "GO" signals, as well as a third signal for pedestrians. Morgan eventually sold his patent to General Electric, who began mass producing traffic lights. In March 1963, the Wire Memorial Museum and Historical Association was started in his family home. His sister, Edith Wire, tried to secure the original wooden traffic light from the Tracy Aviary where it had been used as a birdhouse, but it had disappeared shortly after Wire's death and was never recovered. The original metal traffic light had been moved to Syracuse, New York, where it was put on display; however, when Edith sent a letter to its owners asking that it be returned to Salt Lake City, they replied that they had coincidentally disposed of the metal traffic light two days before her letter arrived. When Edith died in 1973, she left her inheritance to keep the Wire Memorial Museum operating, but they had insufficient funding; trustees for the estate referred the problem to the courts, and the Utah Department of Transportation agreed to use the estate's assets to properly memorialize Wire for his contributions to traffic management. The UDOT Traffic Operations Center at 2060 South 2760 West in Salt Lake City includes the Lester Farnsworth Wire Memorial Library, and a replica of Wire's original wooden traffic light is displayed in the center.