DRUNK workers, unpaid rates and business tenders are just a handful of the letters held in the Venness Letter Book.
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The UNESCO Australian Memory of the World listed book is the country's only surviving record of Australia's first electric streetlights.
A new display to the rare item will be launched on the 131st anniversary of the flick of the switch that put Tamworth on the map as the City of Light.
Discovered underneath Town Hall many years ago, the book is a significant item not only to the city but Australia's history, Tamworth Regional Council cultural collections officer Anna Gregory said.
"There was of course toing and froing, negotiations and controversy, but they went with electric streetlighting in the end," she said.
"The Venness Letter Book really puts Tamworth's history on the map, there's only 50 or 60 other items listed on the register.
"It definitely has been a point of interest for people coming to the museum."
The two only working John Fowler steam driven engines in the world, the type used to power Tamworth's electric streetlights, will be fired up at the 131st celebrations.
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Volunteers scoured the country to find them.
The staff and volunteers have been busy working on a new online launch that includes videos by Museum's and Galleries NSW.
The event on Saturday is free to attend with guided tours of the Powerstation Museum on offer from 9am to 4pm.