Norval Dam 1912

Description

Media Type

Image

Item Type

Photographs

Description

Norval Dam.
Description on back of photo reads: " Norval Dam, 1912. Taken from the end of Noble's lane shows the new dam wit hits new gates and the new pond above it, with the elms of the fomrer meadow still standing. The first dam was about 200 feet further up the river where the Mill race was detoured or siphoned off. The meadow was dug out to form the pond, and ice was harvested off that pond for years until modern refrigeration took over. In a dry period, when the river flow was down, brackets were put across the dam and the gates were closed in order to channel more water power through the mill race. You can see the brackets across the apron of the dam, plank slats 4 inches wide, 1 inch thick, and 15-18 inches high were fitted into spaced holes in the apron -- then serveral 12 feet long boards were tacked in front of the brackets and the force of the water held them there. If a flash flood caught the dam with its brackets on all they could do was open the gates, it was just too dangerous to walk that apron to take them off. It was on this Credit River in 1888 that the first dynamo was built two miles above the village. It was the first Hydro Electric Plant in North America and transmitted power to the Barber Paper Mill in Georgetown."

Notes

One in a series of photo/notecards put together by Mary Maxwell in c1990. She was a long time resident of Norval.

Date of Original

1912

Date Of Event

1912

Subject(s)