Tesla Electric Light & Manufacturing was based in Rahway, New Jersey. The company operated there in the mid-1880s and became one of the earliest businesses connected directly with Tesla’s American career.
Tesla formed the company in December 1884 with Robert Lane and Benjamin Vail, shortly after leaving employment connected with Thomas Edison. His assignment was to develop an arc-lighting system for streets and other outdoor spaces. He designed an improved arc lamp with automatic adjustment and a safety feature, and he also worked on dynamos.
The venture installed a central-station lighting system in Rahway, illuminating streets and several factory buildings. Investors, however, preferred operating an electric utility rather than pursuing Tesla’s broader ideas about motors and electrical transmission. By 1886, the company had effectively ended, and Tesla was left without the financial success he had hoped for.
Rahway is therefore more than a location detail: it marks Tesla’s first substantial independent American enterprise. Newark, Trenton, and Albany were not the company’s home city.