Complex sentence: The lighting of the courthouse was begun in 1915, when lights were acquired with the intention of stringing them from the railroad station to the town square for the state G.A.R. convention; weather precluded this use, and the lights were repurposed for a Christmas display.
Split into simpler sentences: The lighting of the courthouse was begun in 1915, when lights were acquired with the intention of stringing them from the railroad station to the town square for the state G.A.R. convention. Weather precluded this use, and the lights were repurposed for a Christmas display.