Westinghouse Building Name: Solitude Just a block north of Penn Avenue is Thomas Boulevard, there is a little park called Westinghouse Park, the site where George Westinghouse’s mansion, Solitude, stood. George was an inventor and great businessman with tremendous foresight. The first test of alternating current in the country was made by Westinghouse in 1886 when he sent power from a plant downtown to a building in Lawrenceville, lighting 400 light bulbs for two weeks. Fun fact:  George had two gas wells drilled on his estate so that he could experiment in his laboratory that sat on the grounds. He was working on harnessing the power of natural gas, as well as electricity. When he tapped into the natural gas, he ran pipes all over the neighborhood to provide lighting for his neighbors’ houses.