Thomas Alva Edison and Samuel Insull, who had just arrived from England the day before to manage Edison’s finances, went to 4 Goerck Street, New York, near the East River, to inspect three old factories: an immense old ironworks now crowned by the word “EDISON MACHINE WORKS” in meter-high letters. Edison had leased it, renovated it, and equipped it for $65,000. It would become General Electric.
