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Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power & Manufacturing Company was an American company, based in
Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the U.S. state, state ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
that was the first company to generate
hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
power from
Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the U.S. state, state ...
in 1882. The company built upon several predecessor companies efforts to construct a canal used for hydraulic mill power. In 1918, the company merged with
Niagara Falls Power Company Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power & Manufacturing Company was an American company, based in Niagara Falls, New York that was the first company to generate hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls in 1882. The company built upon several predecessor com ...
, which later became
Niagara Mohawk Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation was a New York State utility company, which was acquired in 2000 by National Grid plc. The Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation designation was retired, using variations of NationalGridUS (such as National Grid Buffa ...
and in 2002 was acquired by
National Grid plc National Grid plc is a British multinational electricity and gas utility company headquartered in London, England. Its principal activities are in the United Kingdom, where it owns and operates electricity and natural gas transmission networks ...
.


Early history


Porter, Barton and Company

In 1805, " Porter, Barton & Company," which comprised
Augustus Porter Augustus S. Porter (January 18, 1769 – June 10, 1849) was an American businessman, judge, farmer, and politician who served as an Assemblyman for the state of New York. Early life Augustus Porter was born in Salisbury, Litchfield County, Conne ...
, Peter Porter, Benjamin Barton, and Joseph Anim, purchased the
Niagara River The Niagara River () is a river that flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the province of Ontario in Canada (on the west) and the state of New York in the United States (on the east). There are diffe ...
and the
American Falls The American Falls is the second-largest of the three waterfalls that together are known as Niagara Falls on the Niagara River along the Canada–U.S. border. Unlike the much larger Horseshoe Falls, of which approximately 90% is in Ontari ...
from
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
at a
public auction In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...
. The purchase also included the
water right Water right in water law refers to the right of a user to use water from a water source, e.g., a river, stream, pond or source of groundwater. In areas with plentiful water and few users, such systems are generally not complicated or contentiou ...
s from above the upper rapids to below the Falls. The company
portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...
d goods by land from
Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also ha ...
to Lewiston on the
Niagara River The Niagara River () is a river that flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the province of Ontario in Canada (on the west) and the state of New York in the United States (on the east). There are diffe ...
, then shipped them east on
Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...
. When the
Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing ...
opened in 1825, it made the
portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...
obsolete and plans to develop
Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the U.S. state, state ...
suffered. Augustus proposed a hydraulic mill canal in 1847 and offered the
right of way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
for the canal to any person ready to build it, but the Porter brothers died before interest in the project led to construction.


Company history


Niagara Falls Hydraulic Company

In 1852, Caleb Smith Woodhull and his associates purchased the land and the water rights from the heirs of the Porter brothers with the intention to build a canal, and in 1853 formed the " Niagara Falls Hydraulic Company." A grant was obtained from the owners of a strip of land 100 ft. wide extending from a point above the upper rapids to the high bank below the Falls. The company started with the construction of the canal in 1853 but stopped after sixteen months because construction costs of the canal significantly exceeded estimates and the company went bankrupt.


Niagara Falls Water Power Company

In 1856, Stephen N. Allen bought the company, which was renamed the " Niagara Falls Water Power Company." The company completed the entrance and river portion of the canal by 1857, with the exception of a narrow extension at the south end of the basin which was completed in 1881.


Niagara Falls Canal Company

In 1860, Horace H. Day purchased the company and renamed it the " Niagara Falls Canal Company." At an investment of $1.5 million, () the canal was finally completed in 1861, but could not be used because of the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
. After completing the canal project, it was idle until 1875 when the canal's first customer, Charles B. Gaskill's "Cataract City Milling Company", was using the water of the canal to power the milling company's flour
grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...
.


Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company

In 1877, as the company had only attracted one client, it declared bankruptcy and was auctioned off. The company interests were bought for $71,000 () by Jacob F. Schoellkopf, who in 1878 formed the "Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company" to use the canal. After the transfer of the property, Schoellkopf finished the excavating, but the canal remained idle for a few years. The work on the power plant began and the canal was enlarged in 1892. By 1896, power plant number two had been completed and was supplying power to different factories about
Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the U.S. state, state ...
. Many additions and extensions were made to the original plant, and company began to work on a new plant, called plant number three, that when completed, was separate from the original plant around six or eight hundred feet to the north. The workings of the Hydraulic company were entirely below the first Upper Steel Arch Bridge. Plant number two, which was one 100 ft. by 176 ft. in dimensions, generated an average of 34,000 continuous
horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are t ...
. The entire fall of the water in the canal from the forebay to the tailrace is 210 ft. The power canal, which taps the river at a point above Port Day, and runs throughout the city to a point below the Upper Steel Arch Bridge, furnished a steady supply of water year round. Just below Port Day is the beginning of the rapids, with a fall of more than 50 ft. in three-quarters of a mile. By cutting across a bend in the river the canal comes out at the cliff below the bridge the entire distance being about 4,400 ft. Built before the era of industrial production of
alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...
, the electrical plant generated direct-current electricity, and only provided it within a range of two miles from the plant. In 1898 the company built the Niagara Junction Railway to encourage industrial expansion in the area.


Hydraulic Power Company of Niagara Falls

In 1907, the
New York Public Service Commission The New York Public Service Commission is the public utilities commission of the New York state government that regulates and oversees the electric, gas, water, and telecommunication industries in New York as part of the Department of Public Servi ...
law was passed which regulated the rights of non-electrical corporations from engaging in the development of electric energy and distribution of it. Therefore, the hydraulic business of "Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company" became the " Hydraulic Power Company of Niagara Falls" and "Cliff Electrical Distributing Company" was formed to distribute the power. The "Hydraulic Power Company" owned the building itself, the land, the
penstock A penstock is a sluice or gate or intake structure that controls water flow, or an enclosed pipe that delivers water to hydro turbines and sewerage systems. The term is inherited from the earlier technology of mill ponds and watermills. H ...
s, the
turbine A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating ...
s, and the
water wheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or buckets ...
s. The company furnished power to many of the largest factories and industrial companies in
Niagara Falls, New York Niagara Falls is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 48,671. It is adjacent to the Niagara River, across from the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and named after the fame ...
. Among the company's larger contracts for power is that for the
Niagara Gorge Railroad The Niagara Gorge Railroad (forming part of the Great Gorge Route) was an interurban railway which ran at the bottom of the Niagara Gorge (at water level) from Niagara Falls, New York to Lewiston, New York. Stations were at International Rail ...
, the Aluminum Company of America, The National Electrolytic Company, and many other large manufacturing interests in
Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the U.S. state, state ...
. As of 1908, officers of the company were George B. Mathews (president), William D. Olmsted (vice president) Arthur Schoellkopf (secretary and treasurer), Paul A. Schoellkopf (assistant secretary and treasurer), John L. Harper (chief engineer). The board of directors was composed of George B. Mathews, William D. Olmstead, Arthur Schoellkopf, Jacob F. Schoellkopf Jr., and J. L. Romer.


Cliff Electrical Distributing Company

The " Cliff Electrical Distributing Company," was an electrical corporation organized for the sole purpose of enabling the "Hydraulic Power Company" lawfully to distribute electric power. As of 1914, the main consumers of power from the "Hydraulic Power Company" were: * Aluminum Company of America – about 70,000
horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are t ...
*Cliff Electrical Distributing Company – about 30,000–40,000
horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are t ...
Both the Aluminum Company of America and "Cliff Electrical Distributing Company" owned their
electrical generator In electricity generation, a generator is a device that converts motive power ( mechanical energy) or fuel-based power ( chemical energy) into electric power for use in an external circuit. Sources of mechanical energy include steam turbines, ...
s and electrical apparatus and the transmission machinery (the transmission lines which carry the power from the generators to the place where they use it) and the "Hydraulic Power Company" owned everything else. In 1914, the directors of "Cliff Electrical Distributing Company" were: Peter P. Pfohl, Paul A. Schoellkopf, John Olmstead, C. P. Hugo Schoellkopf, and Jacob F. Schoellkopf Jr. The officers were: Peter P. Pfohl, president; Paul A. Schoellkopf, secretary and treasurer; and C. P. Hugo Schoellkopf, vice president.


Competitors


Niagara River Hydraulic Tunnel, Power, and Sewer Company

Schoellkopf's success in developing millsites led Charles B. Gaskill, of "Cataract City Milling Company", the canal's first customer in 1875, to believe that there would be a growing demand for power. Therefore, in 1886, Gaskill formed the " Niagara River Hydraulic Tunnel, Power, and Sewer Company" to meet the demand. His company hired engineer, Thomas Evershed, to create a plan to develop power. Evershed planned to use the mechanical power of
waterwheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or bucke ...
s and
turbine A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating ...
s rather than generating electricity. He proposed twelve canals to direct water from the upper
Niagara River The Niagara River () is a river that flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the province of Ontario in Canada (on the west) and the state of New York in the United States (on the east). There are diffe ...
to remove power production from the River bank. The canals would feed 238 waterwheel pits with water plunging into the pit, rotating the turbine, and redirected through a huge tunnel into the
gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cu ...
below the Falls. It was determined that Evershed's plan was too expensive, so Edward Dean Adams and others decided to develop hydro-electric power. New plans called for a central generating station and a shortened version of Evershed's tunnel.


Niagara Falls Power Company

In 1889, developers organized the "
Niagara Falls Power Company Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power & Manufacturing Company was an American company, based in Niagara Falls, New York that was the first company to generate hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls in 1882. The company built upon several predecessor com ...
" and the " Cataract Construction Company" (incorporated June 12, 1889) to carry out the new plan. Edward Dean Adams, as president of the "Cataract Construction Company," directed plans to construct a central generating plant and to solve the problem of transmitting electricity over long distances. Adams and the "Cataract Construction Company" began constructing a central power station immediately, however, the problem of how to transmit electricity long distance was not yet solved. On December 20, 1892, the Evershed tunnel and the Edward Dean Adam's power house
inlet An inlet is a (usually long and narrow) indentation of a shoreline, such as a small arm, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In marine ...
canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface f ...
are completed. Therefore, the "Cataract Construction Company" sponsored the "International Niagara Commission", which met in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in June 1890 and was headed by
Lord Kelvin William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, (26 June 182417 December 1907) was a British mathematician, mathematical physicist and engineer born in Belfast. Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 53 years, he did important ...
. The commissioners offered a $100,000 () prize for a solution to the problem. The commission received seventeen submissions from experts around the world only to reject them all. The schemes ranged from a system using
pneumatic Pneumatics (from Greek ‘wind, breath’) is a branch of engineering that makes use of gas or pressurized air. Pneumatic systems used in industry are commonly powered by compressed air or compressed inert gases. A centrally located and ...
pressure to one requiring ropes, springs and pulleys. Some proposed transmitting
direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or ev ...
electricity, including one endorsed by
Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...
. On May 6, 1893, after the commission failed to award a winner,
Lord Kelvin William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, (26 June 182417 December 1907) was a British mathematician, mathematical physicist and engineer born in Belfast. Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 53 years, he did important ...
and the commission asked
George Westinghouse George Westinghouse Jr. (October 6, 1846 – March 12, 1914) was an American entrepreneur and engineer based in Pennsylvania who created the railway air brake and was a pioneer of the electrical industry, receiving his first patent at the age ...
to use
alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...
to develop electricity at
Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the U.S. state, state ...
. The construction lasted for several years and was funded by an interest composed of notable businessmen including:
J. P. Morgan John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became known ...
,
John Jacob Astor IV John Jacob Astor IV (July 13, 1864 – April 15, 1912) was an American business magnate, real estate developer, investor, writer, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish–American War, and a prominent member of the Astor family. He died in the sink ...
,
Lord Rothschild Baron Rothschild, of Tring in the County of Hertfordshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1885 for Sir Nathan Rothschild, 2nd Baronet, a member of the Rothschild banking family. He was the first Jewish m ...
, and W. K. Vanderbilt. The Edward Dean Adams Power Plant, designed by
McKim, Mead, and White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm that came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in fin de siècle New York. The firm's founding partners Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), W ...
, first produced power on August 26, 1895, and in November 1896, power generated from
Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the U.S. state, state ...
reached Buffalo. The first 1,000
horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are t ...
of electricity transmitted to Buffalo was claimed by the street railway company, with the local power company putting in orders for 5,000 more. Similar to the "Hydraulic Power Company of Niagara Falls" arrangement with the "Cliff Electrical Distributing Company," the "Niagara Falls Power Company" sold power to the International Railway Company (w.streetcars in Buffalo & Niagara Falls city) which obtained the right to install its
rotary converter A rotary converter is a type of electrical machine which acts as a mechanical rectifier, inverter or frequency converter. Rotary converters were used to convert alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC), or DC to AC power, before the adv ...
s in the Niagara Power Company's
generating station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many pow ...
, but paid nothing additional (i.e. rent) for the installation.


Consolidation

In 1918, the "Cliff Electrical Distributing Company," the "Hydraulic Power Company of Niagara Falls," and the "Niagara Falls Power Company" merged due to government pressure for more efficient use of the
Niagara River The Niagara River () is a river that flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the province of Ontario in Canada (on the west) and the state of New York in the United States (on the east). There are diffe ...
's water provided by the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1910. The consolidated company retained the name "Niagara Falls Power Company" and issued $26,000,000 ()
capital stock A corporation's share capital, commonly referred to as capital stock in the United States, is the portion of a corporation's equity that has been derived by the issue of shares in the corporation to a shareholder, usually for cash. "Share capi ...
, common and preferred. The $26 million in capital stock was consisted of *$11,515,400 – 7% cumulative preferred capital stock *$14,484,600 – common capital stock The $11,515,400 in preferred stock was distributed to the shareholders of "Niagara Falls Power Company." Of the $14,484,600 in common capital stock: *$540,000.00 – distributed to the shareholders of "Cliff Electrical Distributing Company" *$984,566.70 – distributed to the shareholders of "Niagara Falls Power Company" *$12,960,000 – distributed to the shareholders of "Hydraulic Power Company of Niagara Falls" On March 2, 1921, the combined "Niagara Falls Power Company," secured a federal license from the
Federal Power Commission The Federal Power Commission (FPC) was an independent commission of the United States government, originally organized on June 23, 1930, with five members nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The FPC was originally created in ...
, issued under the Federal Water Power Act of 1920 for a term of 50 years, that authorized the diversion of water for power purposes from the
Niagara River The Niagara River () is a river that flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the province of Ontario in Canada (on the west) and the state of New York in the United States (on the east). There are diffe ...
, above
Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the U.S. state, state ...
, and the return of it below the Falls, all in New York. The "Niagara Falls Power Company" later became " Niagara Mohawk Power Corp." which was acquired by
National Grid plc National Grid plc is a British multinational electricity and gas utility company headquartered in London, England. Its principal activities are in the United Kingdom, where it owns and operates electricity and natural gas transmission networks ...
in 2002 for $3 billion ().


See also

*
List of New York companies The following list of New York companies includes notable companies that are, or once were, headquartered in New York. Companies based in New York 0–9 * 10x Management * 1-800-Flowers A * Abel Honor New York * AEC Daily Corporation * AER ...
* Peter Porter * Jacob F. Schoellkopf *
Schoellkopf Power Station The Schoellkopf Power Station was built on land owned by Jacob F. Schoellkopf above the Niagara Gorge near the American Falls, downriver from Rainbow Bridge. Understanding the growing need for electricity and the role of harnessing the Falls, ...
* List of Niagara Falls hydroelectric generating plants


References

{{reflist 1853 establishments in New York (state) Companies established in 1853 Companies based in New York (state) Hydroelectric power companies of the United States Niagara Falls Niagara Falls, New York