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1916 - 1949: New Utilities and Responsibilities
(PHOTO: The horse and buggy era overlapped the electric age, as this rare photo indicates. By the 1920's trucks would replace the horse and wagon, but the "hooks" these linemen are wearing on their legs remain part of the pole-climbing equipment.)
City growth by 1915 indicated the water and
electric service would face enormous demands.
Rochester had grown nearly 15 percent from 1900
to 1910. 1910 to 1920 was the explosion in growth
decade; the city grew from 7,844 to 13,722,
a 75 percent growth rate! As a result, city
leaders were looking at water and electric service
changes for Rochester. The Utility Board, formed
in 1904, would study building a new and more
reliable light plant in 1915 after the Third
Street Southwest plant burned on October 31,
1915.
(PHOTO: The hydroelectric dam and powerhouse were under construction when this July 1, 1918 photo was taken. The North Broadway Plant and new hydro plant could produce enough electricity, in that era, to meet the needs for a city of 60,000 residents. The Lake Zumbro facility has used water-driven generators to supply electricity for Rochester consumers since the powerhouse was placed in service on November 7, 1919. In 1961, concrete workers refurbished the structure and remote controls were developed for plant operations.)
(PHOTO: The facility consists of a powerhouse and a 440-foot spillway erected across the Zumbro River. The station has an output of 2.6 megawatts.)
The water department was created in 1916 following a May 25 bond issue to purchase a private water company. The Utility Board and City Council faced four service problems for the water department during the 1920s: water supply and storage, pumping capability, metering usage, and financing water main extensions. In 1924 and 1925, four static or artesian wells were bored on water department grounds near the Fourth Street Southeast pumping station. The only water storage was the Saint Mary’s Park standpipe (built in 1887) and 500,000-gallon underground reservoir (built in 1916-1917) near the waterworks. In 1924, a 200,000-gallon concrete water tower was completed on "College Hill" next to Saint Mary’s Hospital.
(PHOTO: The 200,000-gallon concrete tower, built near College Street (Fourth Street Southwest) in Saint Mary’s Park, still furnishes water pressure and a reserve supply for the high level system in southwest Rochester.)
(PHOTO: This electric and gasoline
powered pumping machinery improved efficiency
at the Fourth Street Southeast Water Works after
it was installed in 1924. The eight-cylinder
engine provided Rochester's first reliable auxiliary
water pumping when storms would interrupt electricity
to the main pumping unit.)
As the water department entered the 1930s, its pumping and storage problems that had seemed imposing ten years before found remedies to deal with the city’s growth. Rochester soon would have over two million gallons of storage and a pumping capacity of 7,100 gallons per minute. Fire protection remained a vital concern, but 378 hydrants on the 38 miles of water main provided a far better safety net than the 208 fire plugs on the 17.5 miles of main when the City bought the system.
In 1928, the school system approached the Utility Board with a steam heating proposal to run a steam line from the North Broadway Plant. The steam used to run those turbines could be further used by ducting it to the school for heating and driving vent fans. Using the plant for these two purposes prompted the label "co-generating facility." Until maintenance and other costs reduced the net return years later, the Utility Board found willing customers in the central district for this relatively inexpensive and odor-free heat source. The steam system was operated until April 1986. Approximately 100 customers were on the steam service.
In 1937, People's Cooperative Power Association,
a rural cooperative, negotiated an agreement
to buy wholesale power from the North Broadway
Plant. The agreement was approved by a representative
of the Rural Electrification Administration
from Washington, D.C., and all parties were
pleased by the arrangement that was to last
almost 20 years. By March 1949, the Co-op took
24 percent of the total annual kilowatt-hours
of the electric department, while Rochester
residential consumers used 28 percent. As the
Co-op needed more power to serve its growing
customer demand, it engaged Interstate Power
Company in 1952 for that wholesale supplement
and in 1956 the agreement between Rochester
and the Co-op expired. The November 21, 1956
Post-Bulletin recorded this account of the relationship:
"The arrangement between People's Cooperative
Power and the City of Rochester had been an
excellent example of cooperation between a rural
electric system and a municipally owned generating
system. In referring to the harmonious relations
between the two organizations, [People's Co-op]
Manager Ray Krofchalk commented, 'We will always
be grateful to the City of Rochester for the
way it stepped in to meet our needs for wholesale
power...when it meant the difference between
success and failure of our efforts.'"
(PHOTO: Laborers toiled to dig what became Silver Lake in this circa 1936 photo. This public work project was the centerpiece of the new park in the June 1937 dedication.)
When the Park Board developed plans for the Silver Lake Park in the 1930s, the Utility Board requested that some of that property be used for a new generating plant. Construction began in 1947 with a groundbreaking ceremony. The new Silver Lake Plant went on-line in April of 1949. The 7500-kW unit was powered by a 90,000 lb./hour steam boiler and necessary equipment.
(PHOTO: Finished in 1949 with one generating unit, the plant expanded to add three more generating units over the next twenty years.)
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Contrasting Technology
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Hydro dam construction in 1918 |
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The Lake Zumbro Hydroelectric Plant today |
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1924 Water Tower |
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Reliable Pumping Equipment |
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Silver Lake excavation in progress |
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South and east sides of the Silver Lake Plant during construction |
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