Towns and Nature: Niagara Falls, NY: 1905 Lost 335mw Schoellkopf Power Station

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Niagara Falls, NY: 1905 Lost 335mw Schoellkopf Power Station

(Satellite, 1,107 photos)

The ieee webpage is so informative that I did not even bother to look at the other 16 Google search results. Please click (tap) the link.

I presume the Alcoa plant was a smelter. Since they require a lot of electricity, it makes sense to build a smelter on top of source of cheap hydro power.

Max Eddy posted

Mill District 1948

Photo courtesy of Lloyd Draper & Joel Paradise.

Jim Myers shared

Dennis DeBruler commented on Jim's share
Dennis DeBruler: A gold mine of information about this plant, https://magazine.ieee-pes.org/novemberdecember.../history-5/, including this 1900 photo of the mechanical hydro powered mills before they started building the electrical plant in 1905. (image from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.)

ieee, photo courtesy of the Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. archives

Among other things, this map taught me why I have never been able to find the location of the Adams Station. It was upstream of the falls. I've noticed that the older power plants were built upstream of the falls and a tunnel was built for the tailrace. The newer plants are built below the falls and tunnels and/or canals are built for the headrace.

ieee, (drawing adapted from E.D. Adams, Niagara Power, vol. II, p. 136; courtesy of Craig Woodworth
The canal fed stations 3A and 3B. The tunnels were built to feed 3C. On Jun 7, 1957, rock falls crushed stations 3B and 3C. The crushed stations were abandoned, and the tunnels were used to feed 3A. The canal was then filled in.

Niagara Falls Adventures posted

The Schoellkopf Power Station in Niagara Falls, New York was constructed in three sections from 1905 to 1924. At the time of its completion, it was the largest hydroelectric power station in the world!

On May 1st, 1877, Jacob F. Schoellkopf purchased a plot of land along the Niagara Gorge containing a hydraulic canal for $71,000. Schoellkopf understood the importance of harnessing the power of Niagara Falls for the area’s growing industry. With this new land, Schoellkopf formed the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company. It was the first company to generate hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls back in 1882!

However, the plant used Direct Current technology, which only allowed for the transmission of electricity to a limited range of two miles. In 1896, the competing Niagara Falls Power Company’s Adams Station used Nikola Tesla’s Alternating Current technology to send power 20 miles away to Buffalo!

After Jacob Schoellkopf’s death in 1903, his sons took over the power business. They quickly set to work converting the small scale operation into a full scale power plant. The Schoellkopf Power Station was born in 1905 and merged with Niagara Falls Power Company in 1918. This allowed the station to be converted to AC power. The Schoellkopf plant was capable of producing 330,000 kilowatts of power by completion, enough to power 11,000 homes!

Niagara Falls Adventures shared

Dougie Jay commented on the above share
Actually, construction of the Schoellkopf occurred in 1898 while the Honeymoon Bridge was being built .. note the First Clifton House in the distance, which burned in June the same year.

Niagara History and Trivia posted
Vince Glaab: Schoellkopf generating station
[American side]
Thomas Mellan: Lost power around 5pm during supper … restored power sometime in the early morning…7 years old at the time.
Carol Guererri Rogers: I've hiked among these ruins many times! Even found remains of Powerhouse 2, the plant Schoellkopf first built. It was to the right down at the water's edge.
Michael Scott Brown: "As the thundering rockslide came down on the powerhouse below..." ( part of my Niagara Parks viewmobile tour)
Dan Mandich: Just a walk and Maid of the Mist dock.

Max Eddy posted

Constructing Schoellkopf Power Station #2. 1922

Photo courtesy of the Niagara Falls Public Library Local History Dept. Niagara Falls NY.

Jim Myers shared

Marnee Faragher posted
1938 ice bridge, bridge collapse and hydro station Niagara Falls.
[That is the collapsed Honeymoon Bridge floating past the powerhouse.]

Matt Pyle posted 13 photos with the comment:

Pt.2 (note you might want to read part 1 to get the history in order) [Part 1 is in Mill District.] The mill district was evolving with the times and transferring from water driven mechanical power to electricity and motor driven equipment. Given the immense potential of the height of the falls this was a prime location for hydroelectric generation. The need, location, and technology had finally come together at just the right time and place. Schoellkopf originally in 1882 had constructed a small powerhouse upon the cliffs in the mill district to generate electricity (station one.). As the need for electricity grew a second powerhouse was built directly in front of station one, but this facility was located at the base of the falls thus utilizing the full head that was available. The two power houses worked in conjunction with each other to supplement power output for the growing mill district. But these early stations, while useful in their utility, were short lived. Re-enters again our industrialist and his companions from our first article, Mr. Schoellkopf. A series of three massive powerhouses was to be built at the base of the Niagara Falls, replacing the undersized and aging facilities of station one and station two.
Station 3-A started construction in 1905 and was completed in 1913. This facility was comprised of thirteen horizontal shaft units. In aggregate this facility could produce 130,000 hp, with each unit producing 10,000 hp a piece. Station 3-B was constructed next and was situated directly adjacent to 3-A. The "B" station’s construction had started in 1918 and was completed soon after, in 1920. This new station featured vertical shaft generators as opposed to the horizontal shaft units of station A. The hp generated increased, with each unit producing 37,500 hp each, with a total 112,500 hp possible for the station. Finally in 1921 the final expansion of Schoellkopf's endeavor had begun. The third and final station (station 3-C) had completed construction in 1924. This last project seen the capabilities of hydropower jump yet again. The 3-C station was comprised of three vertical shaft units. Each unit could create 70,000 hp with a station total of 210,000hp. The Schoellkopf Power Stations in all contained a total of nineteen units and were capable of producing of 425,500 hp under ideal conditions.
But something was about to go terribly wrong. During the construction of these facilities the penstocks from the power canal above were embedded into the walls of the cliff face and were enclosed in masonry. Water had begun to undermine the integrity of the cliff face and had severely weakened the structure. At 5:00 PM on June 7th, 1956, disaster struck, and the cliff face finally gave way. Rock and other materials from above came crashing down onto the power houses from above. The mass amount of falling material had completely destroyed stations "B" & "C" and had badly crippled station "A". Workers at the facility knew things were not well as they were experiencing water infiltration into the powerhouse, with workers mopping frequently to keep water away from the generators. The day of the collapse cracks in the walls of the powerhouse were noticed to be widening and at one point a team of forty men were diligently working to stack sandbags to stop the flow of water into the building. When things started giving way the crews scrambled to evacuate the facilities, but one worker Richard Draper did not make it out of the chaos. Despite the damage, station "A" was eventually repaired and continued to operate until being finally decommissioned and demolished with the completion of the new Robert Moses facility in Lewiston, NY.
Vintage news articles claim the damages from the collapse at the time to be in upwards of $100,000,000 million dollars or $1.14 billion dollars now when adjusted for inflation. The loss of these stations I am sure sent quick a shock-wave through the NY industrial sector with the sudden loss of 400 mw of power to the local grid. Not much remains today of this once great and pioneer facility except for the lone wall of station "A". This site is open to visit and has been added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 2013. The area is open to tourists and information placards adorn the general area to share and keep alive the history of the great Schoellkopf power station.