City Light provides electricity and electrical and conservation services to its public and private customers. It is the largest public utility in the Pacific Northwest. Public responsibility for electrical energy dates to 1890 with the creation of the Department of Lighting and Water Works. In 1902, Seattle voters passed a bond issue to develop hydroelectric power on the Cedar River under the administration of the Water Department; electricity from this development began to serve Seattle in 1905. A City Charter amendment in 1910 created the Lighting Department. Under the leadership of Superintendent James D. Ross, the department developed the Skagit River hydroelectric project, which began supplying power in 1924. Ross, sometimes called the “Father of City Light,” developed the vision of extensive hydroelectric projects that guided the department for decades.

Both public and private power were supplied to Seattle until 1951 when voters approved a buyout of the private electrical power supply operations. This made the City’s Lighting Department the sole supplier of the City’s electricity. The department continued to build and expand facilities through the 1950s and 1960s. The Boundary Project in northern Washington began operation in 1967 and currently supplies over half of City Light's power generation. Droughts in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as increasing environmental awareness, led to a new emphasis on conservation. City Light began offering free energy audits, as well as financial incentives for using energy-efficient appliances and systems. The current name of the agency was adopted in 1978 when the Department was reorganized.

City Light employee Thomas Park assembled these three scrapbooks. Park was born in 1894 and worked for the City of Seattle for 37 years. He worked briefly for the Fire Department and the Department of Streets and Sewers before moving to City Light, where he spent the bulk of his career until his retirement in 1959. Park edited the City Light News from 1936 to 1945.