Page 10 - QuakerMillDam

Quaker Mill dam and bridge, circa 1900–1910 (Robert Ungs).
A Dam Reborn

In 1914 Joseph Hutchinson replaced the old wooden dam the Iowa Electric Company acquired the plants, Manchester
at Quaker Mill with a taller concrete dam, most likely with residents became increasingly frustrated by inadequate ser-
the thought of adding electrical power generation in the vice coupled with repeated rate hikes. Each time the Iowa
future. According to a local newspaper, this improvement Electric Company raised its rates, there was serious talk in
was intended to increase the efficiency of the mill and pro- Manchester of starting an independent, perhaps municipally
vide additional power. The newspaper noted that “The new owned, electric light and power plant. 11
dam will contain 600 barrels of cement. It is to be fourteen
feet high, one hundred and fifty feet in width, fifteen feet To this end, a group of local investors incorporated the Del-
in breadth at the bottom, and three feet in breadth at the aware County Light and Power Company and acquired the
top.” Only one photograph of this dam prior to its recon- former Quaker Mill site in 1917. During the next several
8
12
struction in 1922 is known to exist. Writing on this photo- years, however, the new company proved unwilling to de-
graph states that Sam Holdren of Earlville, Iowa, was the velop the hydroelectric plant themselves, but also unable to
contractor, and M. G. Albrook of Delhi, Iowa, was the me- convince the City of Manchester to take over the property
chanical engineer. The new dam was completed by mid- to develop a municipal power plant. In the meantime, the
9
13
September 1914. 10 Iowa Electric Company completed a new high-tension elec-
tric line from Cedar Rapids to Manchester, making electrical
The Iowa Electric Company service more reliable. 14

By 1922, the shareholders of the Delaware County Light
As Iowa entered the twentieth century, the need for reli- and Power Company had grown tired of inaction. Since they
able electrical power became imperative. By the mid-1910s could not persuade the City of Manchester to purchase the
several events helped convince Manchester residents that a site, and had no desire to develop a hydroelectric plant
new hydroelectric plant would be desirable. The two elec- themselves, they sold the Quaker Mill property to the only
trical power plants (one hydroelectric and one steam pow- entity for whom it made economic sense to acquire the site:
ered) that had operated in Manchester before 1916 were the widely disliked Iowa Electric Company. This transfer took
bought by the Iowa Electric Company of Cedar Rapids. After place in late 1921 or early 1922. Between February and
15

8 University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist