Pennsylvania Water and Power Company photographs

Transcription

1 Pennsylvania Water and Power Company photographs 293 Finding aid prepared by Laurie Rizzo, Last updated on October 05, Audiovisual Collections and Digital Initiatives Department

2 Table of Contents Summary Information...3 Biography/History...4 Scope and Contents... 5 Arrangement...6 Administrative Information... 6 Related Materials... 7 Controlled Access Headings...7 Conservation Note... 7 Collection Inventory Page 2 -

3 Summary Information Repository Hagley Museum and Library: Audiovisual Collections and Digital Initiatives Department Creator Pennsylvania Water & Power Company. Title Call number 293 Date circa , bulk Extent 2 linear feet General Physical Description 465 photographic prints : b&w ; 5 x 7 in. 417 photographic prints : b&w ; 8 x 10 in. 21 photographic prints : b&w ; 4 x 5 in. 2 photographic prints : b&w ; panoramas. 1 photographic print : color ; 16 x 20 in. mounted on foam core. Language English Abstract Pennsylvania Water and Power Company was established to store, transport, and generate water power for both commercial and manufacturing purposes. The Holtwood facility outside of Lancaster, Pennsylvania was the first power plant to have both a hydroelectric generator and a coal power generator. The company was originally called McCall?s Ferry Power Co. and founded in This small collection consists of photographs that depict the progress of several construction projects at the Holtwood and Safe Harbor plants. Most of these images date from 1951 to 1954, well after the original construction of both sites. - Page 3 -

4 Biography/History Pennsylvania Water and Power Company was established to store, transport, and generate water power for both commercial and manufacturing purposes. The Holtwood facility outside of Lancaster, Pennsylvania was the first power plant to have both a hydroelectric generator and a coal power generator. The company was originally called McCall?s Ferry Power Co. and founded in The Holtwood Dam was built between 1905 and 1910 along the Susquehanna River, twenty-five miles upstream of the Chesapeake Bay. The original name was the McCalls Ferry Dam. The name was changed to honor two financiers who helped complete the project after the 1907 financial panic in the United States caused the company to default on their bonds. At this time the dam, powerhouse and railroad yard were only partially finished. The company reached out to John E. Aldred ( ) a hydroelectric industry pioneer and entrepreneur for help. Aldred was the president of Shawinigan Falls Power Co. in Canada and president of Consolidated Gas, Electric Light and Power Company in Baltimore. Aldred partnered with Sir Herbert S. Holt ( ), president of Montreal Light, Heat & Power Company, and Edward R. Wood ( ), vice president of Toronto Securities. The company was reorganized as Pennsylvania Water & Power Company. The dam was renamed Holtwood and the reservoir was named Lake Aldred. John Abbet Walls (187?-195?) was the chief engineer and later president of the Pennsylvania Water and Power Company. As chief engineer he oversaw the construction of the dams. A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Walls worked for Aldred at the Shawinigan Falls Power Co. as assistant engineer in In 1925 a coal fired steam electric station was built next to the hydroelectric plant. From 1925 until 1973 the plant burned coal that was dredged from the river. To meet the needs of the growing industrial use of electric power, a second dam was built located thirtytwo miles upstream from the Chesapeake Bay. Construction on the Safe Harbor Dam began in 1929 and by 1931 power was being generated and delivered. The reservoir, Lake Clarke extends nine and half miles upstream near Columbia, Pennsylvania. Sand and coal were dredged from the lake each year between 1954 and The Safe Harbor Dam was co-owned by Consolidated Gas Electric Light and Power Company, which owned two thirds of the company. In 1955 Pennsylvania Power & Light (PP&L) acquired Pennsylvania Water and Power Company. With this purchase PP&L now became owner of the Holtwood Dam and one third owner of the Safe Harbor Dam. PP&L changed it?s name to PPL Corporation in Page 4 -

5 Scope and Contents This small collection consists of photographs that depict the progress of several construction projects at the Holtwood and Safe Harbor plants. Most of these images date from 1951 to 1954, well after the original construction of both sites. There are two albums and several loose pages containing two photographs on a page. The albums have been disbound for conservation purposes. The photographs show the construction of the coal unloading dock and dredging equipment at Safe Harbor. The coal unloading dock photographs depict the construction of the unloader, abutment for bridge, counterweight guides, septic tanks, unloader bins, raw silt bunker, cell bracing, transporting cell patterns, and anchors for mooring rings for dock cells. There are images after the construction is completed (or nearly complete) that show the unloading of 800 ton barges. The photographs of dredging equipment show the assembly of the dredge, the hull unloading engine, and installation of the dredging ladder and spud frame. There are images of a generator, lifting engine, dredge suction inlet, tugboat, rudders, propellers, storage tanks, bilge pump, a cutting head, main hoist, and main silt pump. This set of photographs also includes views of a barge launching, a tugboat launching, the removing of barge from a railroad car, a pump rate test, engine room interiors, operator?s controls, switchboard, and motor control center. There are a number of aerial photographs of the Safe Harbor coal plant. And a set of photographs of an exhibit called Help Keep America Green. There are three albums of the Holtwood Steam Electric Station. These albums have been disbound for conservation purposes. Although all three albums contain photographs of the same construction project it is two different sets of images; one solo album and a volume one and two set. Some of the images in the solo album are also contained in the other two albums. The two volume set contains type written captions on the back of every photograph. The albums and captions seem to have been created in 1954, though the images themselves date from 1952 to The photographs are of the Holtwood Steam Electric Station extension which was built between 1952 and These images depict the construction of the raw coal conveyor, coal transfer house, pulverizing mill, turbine room, boiler room and condensate storage tank. Shown are the driving timber for piling, support silo for coal storage conveyor, conveyor envelop, the conduit, steel erection, foundation, reinforcement, piping, track hopper, generator pedestal, furnace bottom ash basin, and sump pumps. There are views of the coal storage area, conduit for station transformer, the encasing of the?korduct? conduit, coal transfer tower and conveyor. There are overall aerial views as well as specific aerial shots of the fly ash disposal area. There are a few photographs from September 1931 that show a grounding reactor for a york circuit at Holtwood, the?new? ice boom, and transmission lines at Safe Harbor. There are two photographs of a room crane taken in There is one image from 1992 that is an aerial photograph of the Holtwood plant. - Page 5 -

6 There are images from two inspection trips, one to the Shawinigan Water and Power Company and the Safe Harbor plant. These show group portraits and snapshots of the board of directors and views of the plants. There are also a number of high-elevation aerial views of farmlands, as well as views of farm buildings and fields. There are exteriors and interior images of the Baltimore Electro Alloys Co. plant, scenes along the Susquehanna River, views of the River Coal Storage at Holtwood and a few group portraits of watchmen at the Safe Harbor Water Power Corp. Arrangement This collection is arranged in chronological order. The original order of the photographs within all of the albums has been maintained. The albums photographs are in chronological order, except for the two volume set which does not have a discernable order but appears to be deliberate. Administrative Information Audiovisual Collections and Digital Initiatives Department Finding aid prepared by Laurie Rizzo, Access Restrictions This collection is open for research. Provenance These photographs come from the files of John A. Walls, chief engineer and president of Pennsylvania Water and Power Company. - Page 6 -

7 Related Materials Related Material Pennsylvania Power & Light Company records (Accession 1552), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library. Pennsylvania Power & Light Company records (Accession 1962), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library. Separated Material Pennsylvania Water and Power Company records (Accession 2627), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library. Controlled Access Headings Corporate Name(s) PPL Holtwood, LLC. Subject(s) Coal. Dams. Hydroelectric power plants. Conservation Note Five albums in this collection were disbound for preservation of the photographs contained within the albums. The album covers did not contain any informational or aesthetic value and were not retained. - Page 7 -

8 Collection Inventory Box Folder Baltimore Electro Alloys Co. plant exteriors and interiors, circa s Farm operators report, Exteriors of farm buildings and fields, and high-elevation aerial views of farmlands. Grounding reactor for york circuit at Holtwood Hydro Station, 1931 September A worker is standing beside the reactor. New ice boom, 1931 September Safe Harbor Westport transmission line, 1931 September River Coal storage at Holtwood, Page 8 -

9 Properties and rights, Scenes along the Susquehanna River. World Power Conference, Shawinigan Water and Power Company, Inspection trip. Public Service Commission of Maryland, High elevation aerials. Holtwood steam power plant, Room crane, 1939 February Safe Harbor Water Power Corp. watchmen, Group portraits. - Page 9 -

10 War time measures, Fencing around transmission lines/towers. Board of Directors group portrait, Board of Directors inspection trip, 1944 June Scope and Content Group portrait and snapshots. Board of Directors inspection trip, 1944 June Safe Harbor plant interiors and exteriors with captions. Board of Directors inspection trip, 1944 June 1.. DF 1011 Scope and Content Safe Harbor plant exteriors. Backwashing pipes and a rotor being heated by workers, 1951 June Page 10 -

11 Unit turbine runner and shaft, 1951 August Project #5560. Safe Harbor coal unloading dock construction, 1952 May-1954 March Project #5642. Sawing slots and sawing bevel, 1952 December Project #5689. Safe Harbor dredging equipment, 1952 December-1954 February Project #5644. Steam Station extension (Holtwood), 1953 February-1953 October Project # Page 11 -

12 Safe Harbor coal plant aerials, 1953 March-1953 November Project #5641 and #5643. Help Keep America Green exhibit, 1953 June, 1954 April Project #5838. Also includes one image of a fracking tower (#5837) and one of Village Road looking North (#5840). Holtwood Steam Electric Station: 66,000 KW extension progress pictures, volume 1, Project #5550. Captions are typed on the backs of the photographs and dated Holtwood Steam Electric Station: 66,000 KW extension progress pictures, volume 1, Project #5550. Captions are typed on the backs of the photographs and dated Page 12 -

13 Holtwood Steam Electric Station: 66,000 KW extension progress pictures, volume 2, Project #5550. Captions are typed on the backs of the photographs and dated Holtwood Steam Electric Station: 66,000 KW extension progress pictures, volume 2, Project #5550. Captions are typed on the backs of the photographs and dated Professor Atom and His Magic Show, DF 1011 Scope and Content Professor Atom and His Magic Show: a PP&L Public Affairs Department Production on Atomic Science & Nuclear Energy. Watch WLVT-TV Channel 39, Tuesday, July 4, 1967 at 7:30 P.M. Holtwood plant aerial view, DF 1011 Photographer: Dawn Aviation Ltd. - Page 13 -