Bodwell Water Power Company Plant facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Brookfield Renewables Milford Dam
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 Location in Maine
Location in the United States
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| Location | E side of Penobscot River at Bridge St., Milford, Maine |
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| Area | 10.8 acres (4.4 ha) |
| Built | 1906 |
| Engineer | Wallace Clyde Johnson |
| Architectural style | Romanesque |
| NRHP reference No. | 88001842 |
| Added to NRHP | September 29, 1988 |
The Brookfield Renewables Milford Dam is a special building in Milford, Maine. It sits on the Penobscot River. This place uses the river's power to make electricity. It's also called the Milford Dam.
The main building is very old and beautiful. It was built in 1906. Back then, it was the biggest power plant of its kind in Maine. Building it helped local factories switch from using water power to using electricity. Because it's so important, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
What the Milford Dam Looks Like
The Brookfield Renewables Dam is at the eastern end of the Milford Dam. Even though it's right next to the dam, it's actually a separate building. There's a special path for logs and a fish ladder between them.
This power plant is built near a big waterfall on the river. This waterfall is the best spot to get a lot of power from the water. The plant building is huge. It's made of steel and covered with bricks. It measures about 220 feet long and 85 feet wide.
The building sits on a strong concrete base with two levels. The bottom part of the base has a series of arches. Above these arches are square windows. The main part of the building looks a bit like an old church, with a tall middle section. It has lower sections on each side. The tall middle part has windows high up on its sides.
Inside, you can still see the original tile floors and iron railings. There's even a large crane that moves heavy equipment around the building.
History of the Milford Dam
Before the power plant was built, a large sawmill stood here in the 1880s and 1890s. A man named Joseph Robinson Bodwell owned a big part of the company that owned that mill. This company decided to build the power plant and dam between 1905 and 1907.
We don't know exactly why the building was designed to be so fancy. It was quite a remote place for such a detailed building. But, it was common for large public buildings during that time to have a grand style.
The plant was designed by Wallace C. Johnson. He was an engineer who had worked on other big power projects, like those in Niagara, New York. When it was first built, the plant could make 12,000 horsepower of energy. Most of this power was sold to factories in nearby towns. For example, the mill across the river in Old Town had its own power system.
In 1998, the company that owned the plant at the time, Bangor Hydro, sold it. It was bought by PP&L Global. Today, the plant is owned by Black Bear Hydro Partners LLC. It can now produce 8 megawatts of electricity.
