Bodwell Water Power Company Plant facts for kids
The Brookfield Renewables Milford Dam is a special building that creates electricity from the power of water. It's also known as the Milford Dam power plant. You can find it on the Penobscot River in Milford, Maine.
The main building is quite beautiful, built in a style called Romanesque. It stands at the eastern end of the Milford Dam. This power plant was built in 1906. Back then, it was the biggest hydroelectric facility in all of Maine! Its construction was a big deal because it showed how local industries were starting to use electricity instead of just water power. Because of its history and design, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
What Does the Milford Dam Power Plant Look Like?
The Brookfield Renewables Dam power plant is located right next to the Milford Dam. Even though it's very close, it's not technically part of the dam itself. A special channel for floating logs and a ladder for fish separate the power plant from the dam.
This power plant is built at a spot on the river where there's a big waterfall, making it a great place to generate power. The building is huge, made with a strong steel frame and covered in brick. It's about 220 feet long and 85 feet wide. It sits on a sturdy two-story concrete base that reaches out over the river. The bottom part of the building has a series of arches, and square windows above them line up with the windows on the main building.
The main part of the building looks a bit like a large, old church, with a tall middle section and lower parts on each side. There are windows high up on the sides of the central section, letting in lots of light. Inside, you can still see the original tile floors and iron railings. There's even a special crane that can move heavy equipment around the building.
History of the Milford Dam Power Plant
Before the power plant was built, this spot was home to a large sawmill in the 1880s and 1890s. A man named Joseph Robinson Bodwell was a big owner of the Milford Land Company, which owned that sawmill. This company decided to build the power plant and dam between 1905 and 1907.
It's interesting that such a fancy building was constructed in a somewhat remote area. This style of architecture was popular for large public buildings during that time. The power plant was designed by Wallace C. Johnson, an engineer who had also worked on hydroelectric projects in Niagara, New York.
When it first opened, the plant was designed to produce 12,000 horsepower of electricity. This power was mostly sold to factories and businesses in nearby towns. For example, the mill across the river in Old Town didn't buy power from this plant because it had its own power system.
Over the years, the ownership of the plant changed. In 1998, Bangor Hydro, which owned the plant at the time, sold it. Today, it is owned by Black Bear Hydro Partners LLC. The plant can now produce 8 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to power many homes and businesses.
