Lester Wire

An expert marksman, he competed in marksmanship competitions as part of the SLCPD's "revolver team", and was well-regarded by his fellow officers.[3] In that position, Wire created the first traffic codes in Salt Lake City, although the public was divided on accepting them.However, automobile traffic in this era was very chaotic and dangerous: motorists could drive however they pleased and could turn or stop wherever they wanted, and pedestrians in the street were "fair game" if they did not move out of their way fast enough.[1] Wire's first prototype was a yellow wooden box with a pitched roof that contained red and green lights on all four sides.[8] 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.[3] During World War II, Wire did not serve in the military, but was the chief coordinator of civilian protection in Salt Lake City on the American home front.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 Lester's death and was never recovered.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 front of Wire's grave at the Salt Lake City Cemetery
The rear of Wire's grave, identifying him as the inventor of the electric traffic light
Salt Lake CitySalt Lake City Cemeterytraffic lightpolice officerinventortraffic officerdetectiveSalt Lake City Police Departmentpatentedtraffic managementUtah Department of TransportationMormonsdiphtheriaChristian Scienceself-quarantinemanslaughterfootballbasketballUniversity of Utahmarksmanmarksmanship competitionssergeanttraffic codesJ. P. KnightLondonEnglandsemaphorerailway signalstrolleybirdhousecity commissionAmerican Expeditionary ForcesambulanceWorld War IsmokestacklocomotiveWorld War IIAmerican home frontUnited States Patent and Trademark Officeheart attackDetroitMichiganDetroit Police DepartmentWilliam PottsGarrett MorganGeneral ElectricEdith WireTracy AviarySyracuse, New YorkUtah State Historical Society