This article was written by Martha Hayden and originally appeared on The Restless Viking website on August 27, 2024.
Did you know that Grand Rapids had been the first city in the world to have commercial electric lighting service? I had no idea of this amazing, local history!
My husband, Chuck, had been walking along the Grand River last Tuesday, August 20th when he came upon a curiously large iron object. I wouldn’t have known what it was, but Chuck understood right away. “It’s a centrifugal pump and water turbine combined.” The water would come up through the center and be pushed out of the 14 inch pipe. (bottom left) It is believed that this pump had been used to keep water levels consistent in order to provide an even flow of electricity.
As Chuck had stepped around the fenced corner to get a photo, he had commented to a museum worker who’d been on a break. “That’s part of the first hydroelectric power plant in the world.” The museum clerk nodded with a response. “Yup. I heard it’s going to be part of an outdoor display.”
“Wait a minute. . . THIS had generated electricity a hundred years ago?” I had furrowed my brow studying the photos when Chuck had arrived home. “From the river?” I clarified. Chuck had nodded. “Wow!” I had been befuddled by this artifact which had been underground over 80 years. Who’d placed it along the river bank? How had it created the first commercial electricity service in the world? I needed to know more!
Alex Forist
Alex Forist, Chief Curator at The Grand Rapids Public Museum, had been interviewed by Channel 3 News reporter, Teanna Barnes. “Because these are huge pieces of steel machinery, kind of what we’re envisioning, is more of an outdoor exhibit that uses them almost like sculptural pieces that can be interpreted and tell the story of the industrial history of this site about how the mill and the power plant and the different factories were using water power from the canal going back to the 1860’s and 1870’s.”
Jim Winslow
Local historian, Jim Winslow, had shared, “I’ve been researching through old newspaper clippings from the 1940s. I pieced together that the Worthington 14″ Centrifugal Pump, if operated in reverse, would act as a water turbine. I do not know when it was installed in the 1888 Grand Rapids Electric Light & Power building but it last operated in 1932 and after several years as a storage warehouse, the building above was demolished in the 1940s. So the centrifugal pump/water turbine has been buried for 80–90 years.”
My mind swirled with wonderment about the city of Grand Rapids one hundred years ago. What had it been like back then? Who had been integral in creating “Furniture City?” I had to know!
William T. Powers
Born in New Hampshire on July 8, 1820, William T. Powers’ had studied and learned cabinet making skills within his first eighteen years. With $300.00 in his pocket, William T. Powers, his wife and son, William H. had made their journey to The Rapids on the Grand, which became known as Grand Rapids…