As early as 1892, a dozen years before Homestake entered the hydroelectric arena, Pioneer Electrical
Company of Aberdeen , South Dakota Lead City
By May, the Spearfish City Council was considering a
franchise to Pioneer Electric for electric light service in the Queen City Chicago had petitioned the
city for a 20-year franchise to connect Spearfish, Central City and Lead with “an
electric motor line.” The project collapsed; full details of
that initiative are not known, but it clearly fouled the mood for any quick
decision on the Pioneer proposal to bring electric service to town.
The summer came and went without a decision. Pioneer corporate folks arrived in August
in an effort to move the project off high center. While Lead City
On October
19, 1892 , the Queen City Mail reported that Lead City
Spearfish apparently had declined to participate, and the Mail
observed that “Spearfish was fortunate for once in not taking the bait so
temptingly offered…electric lights are nice things to have, but they come too
high for Spearfish just at present.”
But by December, Charles Waite petitioned for the right to
establish an electric light company, and the prospect of electricity coming to
Spearfish was revived. Waite proposed a
plant about three miles up Spearfish
Canyon
Within a few weeks, the “Spearfish Electric Light, Heat and
Power Company” was organized, led by Waite as president and B. F. Ankeny,
vice-president and treasurer. Neither
lived in Spearfish, which caused a bit of turmoil, and the project languished.
The community, nonetheless, seemed giddy with
excitement. The notion of a new power
plant to utilize the “immense water power in the Spearfish river,” coupled with
other achievements, gave many folks reason for optimism. They saw the facility as spurring manufacturing
and new growth. And the railroads were
coming! The track bed for the Burlington into Spearfish was being graded, and with “the Elkhorn …reaching
Spearfish this summer and the erection of the ore reduction works, the city
will have a magical growth.”
Of course, some of the blather was wishful thinking. The Elkhorn
would never make it to the Queen City , and even the Burlington ’s presence would eventually succumb to
severe flooding from that same “immense water power” of Spearfish Creek.
By the summer of 1893, there was still no real decision on
the future of hydroelectric power for Spearfish, but three names began to
emerge: A. J. Day, George Favorite, and
Hiram Dotson. All were well-known
around Spearfish.
 |
| There were numerous entities that proposed a hydroelectric plant for Spearfish, and they all focused on this site about three miles up the canyon from town. Once owned by Hiram Dotson, ownership passed through several hands before SEL&P company controlled it. Little evidence remains that the plant ever existed! This photo was taken from alongside Highway 14A not far from Split Rock looking southeast. |
In August of 1893, 27-year-old George Favorite was president of the First National Bank and was starting his second year
as mayor of Spearfish. A.J. Day was a local cattle man, and Hiram Dotson was a realtor and city alderman. The issue of electric power for Spearfish was still in limbo, when on
the evening of August 15, the city council met again to deal with the
matter. The next day, the Queen City
Mail reported: “The ordinance committee
was unable to file a written report on the electric light franchise, for the reason
that at present there are only two members on the committee, and they could not
agree at all – Ald. Dotson favoring the ordinance, and Ald. Pike being
unalterably opposed to it. Each one made
a verbal report in accordance with his opinions. The franchise was granted by a vote of 3 to
1, and when approved and signed by the mayor will become law.”
Surprisingly, there was no longer any mention of Charles Waite or B.F.
Ankeny, who may well have been viewed as “carpetbaggers.”
Instead, A. J. Day landed the 20-year
franchise. The newspaper reported that
the agreement gave Day until January
1, 1895 to have the operation up and running. Nonetheless, reported the Mail, “…there is not the slightest cause for
anxiety or alarm over the granting of this franchise. If the town becomes the city that everyone
believes it will, the plant will be put in and the city will simply take six
lights and pay for them. If we job along
in the same fashion as a country village, Mr. Day will never put in an electric
light plant.”
But behind the scenes, there likely were some anxieties
– and more changes in the plans for an electric plant for Spearfish. On the last day of February, a simple
one-paragraph note was tucked within the three columns of local news tidbits on an inside page of the Queen City Mail.
“A brief note from Mayor Favorite, who has been in Chicago for several
weeks, announces that he will arrive home on Thursday of this week, via the B
& M.”
Since the mayor’s roots were in Chicago , this may very well have been viewed
simply as a pleasure trip to see his parents.
While that could have been at least partially the case, his extended visit
to Chicago likely involved business meetings that would help secure and bolster
the finances of a fledgling hydroelectric company for Spearfish.
A 120 acre parcel of Spearfish Canyon land for the new power plant was along the creek near what’s called “Split Rock,” where the Burlington and Missouri Railroad had blasted through a ridge to make way for its track into Spearfish. The site was on a narrow plateau above the east edge of Spearfish Creek. Ownership of the land had transferred from W. M. Baird to Calvin M. Favorite, and then to Spearfish Electric Light and Power Company for $500. Calvin M. Favorite was the father of Mayor George Favorite.
For the first time, significant details began to emerge about the new
enterprise. By mid-March of 1894, work
on the powerhouse – nearly four miles up the canyon from the old downtown Spearfish – had begun. A
1,190 foot flume would deliver creek water from an upstream dam to the
powerhouse, a single-room stone structure about 300 yards northeast of “Split
Rock. The plant sat east of the railroad tracks – across and only slightly
above Spearfish Creek.
In an April filing with the Lawrence County Register of
Deeds office, Day’s franchise for maintaining and furnishing electric light and
power to the city had been transferred to “Spearfish Electric Light and Power
Company.”
The Mail reported:
“The plant will be run by water
power. Ninety thousand feet of lumber will
be used in constructing the power house and flume. Power will be supplied by a James Leffel & Co. double
horizontal turbine 150 horsepower water
wheel. The dynamo is furnished by the
National Electric company of Eau
Claire , Wis.
Accolades flowed for George Favorite and Hiram Dotson.
Dotson was, as the newspaper put it, “our well known real
estate rustler, and needs no introduction to our citizens. He says he is going to push the work through
in quick time. Mr. Favorite is president
of the First National Bank, and the company could not have made a better selection
for manager.”
After years of discussion and a few false starts, Spearfish
was finally on its way to getting hydroelectric power to light the town,
including homes and businesses – among them the new IOOF Hall on “I”
Street. The two-story veneered building
was 25 x 90 feet in size, fitted with all modern appliances -- except electric lights. And that would soon change. The IOOF Hall remains one of the most historic
landmarks in downtown Spearfish.
Completion of the new plant was a top priority, but it would
also be necessary to carry the electricity by wire from the power house down Spearfish Canyon
Go to: PART 2 - "THE LIGHTS GO ON"