[2] Stanley was as an electrician working with tele keys and fire alarms of an early manufacturer.

Shortly thereafter, George Westinghouse hired Stanley as his chief engineer at his Pittsburgh factory.

In 1885, Stanley built the first practical alternating current transformer based on Lucien Gaulard and John Dixon Gibbs' prototype of 1881.

He used the system to light offices and stores along the main street of Great Barrington - the location of his West Avenue family home.

The land on which the company once stood is now the site of the William Stanley Business Park of the Berkshires in Pittsfield.