 A POWER PLANT rests at the top of the falls (Photo courtesy of Bill Ames) .....EDITOR'S NOTE - The following was submitted by former Falls City logger Bill Ames. .....FALLS CITY - The falls here have been a great influence on starting the town, furnishing cheap power for a number of industries, and providing recreation. .....The first recorded activity at the falls was a grist mill constructed by John Thorpe and his son, Theodore, in 1852. The first sawmill was run by water power. A large cave was blasted out of the rock below the falls to hold the penstock. .....This cave is clearly visible from the north side of the falls along with the concrete footing for the penstock. In 1882 Henry Sloper built a grist mill at Independence to provide power for the mill. A water plume 12 miles long was built from the falls at Falls City to Independence. .....The elevation at the falls is about 370 feet. At Independence the elevation is 167 feet. In 1914 the first electric power generator was built on the same site as the old sawmill. It was powered by a penstock run by water taken from above the falls. FALLS CITY CALLED SYRACUSE .....Originally Falls City was called Syracuse. When the town was incorporated in 1891 the name was changed, appropiately, to Falls City. .....The power plant was privately owned and operated until it was sold to Mountain States Power Company about 1922. The plant had been moved to a location one block east and a large holding pond was constructed. .....This pond later became the log pond for Atlas Lumber Company. In the summer the water would get low and a dam was erected to raise the water level up. This dam was built so that it could be put up in the summer and taken down in the fall after the rains started. .....While in place this dam provided one of the finest swimming holes in the world. This was taken advantage of by all the plus the Epworth League Society. This group came to Falls City every year and occupied the park for several weeks. .....The society built and maintained a large covered tabernacle, a cook house and dinning room, plus bath houses. Members slept in tents. PARK LIKE A CITY .....The park was like a city within a city when they came to town. Their main activity was swimming and they had steps constructed leading down to the river from the road. .....At the bottom a double row of seats like bleachers were built on a nice platform and on a hot day everyone was there - some to swim and others to sit in the shade and watch the fun. .....The years have erased all of this now. All that remains of the dam and its purpose is the footings for the dam on the south side of the river. .....The 4-foot wooden pipe that runs through the little park by the falls was the one that put the water in the pond to operate the generator. It had been left there when the park was improved to remind the folks of what had been. 
|