Saint Croix Falls Dam, also known as St. Croix Falls Dam, is a

hydroelectric dam 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 ...

on the St. Croix River between St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin and

Taylors Falls, Minnesota Taylors Falls is a city in Chisago County, Minnesota, United States, located at the junction of U.S. Highway 8 and Minnesota State Highway 95. The population was 1,055 at the 2020 census. History Taylors Falls was platted in 1850 or 1851, and ...

. The only dam on the St. Croix River, it is operated by

Xcel Energy Xcel Energy Inc. is an American utility holding company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, serving more than 3.7 million electric customers and 2.1 million natural gas customers in Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico in 2019. It consists of four ope ...

History

The natural Saint Croix Falls was a series of rapids with a drop of about over . The water power served the lumber industry in the nineteenth century before the construction of the current hydroelectric dam from 1905 to 1907.

Lumber industry

In 1837

Franklin Steele Franklin Steele (1813 – September 10, 1880) was an early settler of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, of Scottish descent, Steele worked in the Lancaster post office as a young man, where he once met James Bucha ...

organized a company to build a small dam and

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

at the falls.

Caleb Cushing Caleb Cushing (January 17, 1800 – January 2, 1879) was an American Democratic politician and diplomat who served as a Congressman from Massachusetts and Attorney General under President Franklin Pierce. He was an eager proponent of territor ...

purchased the sawmill in 1846, but the property became entangled in legal disputes and had little commercial success. The early mill fell into disrepair, and in 1869 the local ''Polk County Press'' wrote that while "industrious relic hunters might find there a dam by a mill site, they would not find a mill by a dam site." A variation of this quote now appears on a historical marker near the dam. Development for the lumber industry resumed in 1889, when William Sauntry built the wood-pile Nevers Dam upstream to help

Friedrich Weyerhäuser Friedrich (Frederick) Weyerhäuser (November 21, 1834 – April 4, 1914), also spelled Weyerhaeuser, was a German-American timber mogul and founder of the Weyerhaeuser Company, which owns saw mills, paper factories, and other business enterprise ...

control the flow of timber rafts after the 1886 St. Croix River log jam. Clear cutting and forest fires began to exhaust the area's lumber supply in the first decade of the twentieth century.

Hydroelectricity

In 1903, the Minneapolis General Electric Company, managed by

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

-based Stone & Webster, purchased control of both the falls and the Nevers Dam upstream in order to generate

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, 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 Renewabl ...

for the growing city of

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. The company constructed the present concrete dam and power station from 1905 to 1907. The power station originally utilized four Westinghouse generators with a combined output of 10,000 kilowatts. Electricity was delivered to Minneapolis via a , 50,000 volt copper transmission line. The dam originally included a wooden

fish ladder A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass, fish steps, or fish cannon is a structure on or around artificial and natural barriers (such as dams, locks and waterfalls) to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration as well as move ...

on the east end and a steel "bear trap"

sluice gate Sluice ( ) is a word for a channel controlled at its head by a movable gate which is called a sluice gate. A sluice gate is traditionally a wood or metal barrier sliding in grooves that are set in the sides of the waterway and can be considered ...

on the west end that could be raised or lowered to permit the passage of timber rafts downriver. The H. M. Byllesby Company, precursor to the

Northern States Power Company Northern States Power Company () was a publicly traded S&P 500 electric and natural gas utility holding company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that is now a subsidiary of Xcel Energy (). History The company's founder, Henry Marison Byllesby, ha ...

, purchased the dam in 1913. In addition to the Saint Croix Falls dam, the company continued to operate the older Nevers Dam upstream to regulate the flow of water into the power station. The Nevers Dam was badly damaged by flooding in 1954 and demolished the following year. The dam became the property of

in 1998 when Northern States Power merged with other utilities. The power station has been upgraded several times and now has a capacity of 25.9 MW.

Structure

The Saint Croix Falls Dam is a concrete hybrid

arch-gravity dam An arch-gravity dam or arched dam is a dam with the characteristics of both an arch dam and a gravity dam. It is a dam that curves upstream in a narrowing curve that directs most of the water pressure against the canyon rock walls, providing the ...

with an S-shaped spillway and an integral hydroelectric power station. The main arch is long and the power station is , located on the east side of the river in Wisconsin. The dam also includes a concrete

dike Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to: General uses * Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian" * Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment * Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice * Dikes ...

on the west side of the river in Minnesota.

Notes

References