The Powerhouse Dam – 11″ x 14″ oils on canvas.
In 1919, after the failure of a wooden dam, Moab Light and Power Company built this concrete dam, which provided power until 1945 when Utah Power and Light built a 44,000 volt power line from Price to Moab.
Here’s an excerpt from the Times on August 8th, 1919:
“Coming without warning, and coursing down from the mountains at a terrific speed, the largest flood ever seen in Mill Creek overflowed its banks and swept through the south part of Moab Valley Saturday night [August 2]. Damages estimated at [$25,000] were sustained …. The power plant dam at Mill Creek was taken out, and the power house, which was situated near the creek, was undermined by caving banks. The house was carried away by the flood and some of the machinery was lost …. Nearly one thousand feet of the Moab Water System [pipeline] was carried away leaving the town without water for a week. Moab irrigation dam in the creek was taken out. The new Main Street bridge over Mill Creek, recently constructed at a cost of fifteen hundred dollars, was carried out by the first impact of the flood. A number of homes and farms were badly damaged. The flood hit Moab at approximately 10:30 Saturday evening”
(I found this in Faun McConkie Tanner’s book “The Far Country”)
Parts of that $1500 bridge are still in the creek behind our house!
Thanks for reading & enjoy your summer!
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