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Hydroelectric and Kirk Power Plant Operation Records

 Collection
Identifier: 5033

Scope and Contents

The collection includes two different types of operation records from the Homestake power plants. There are bound ledger books containing sheets with daily recordings for the hydroelectric plants and the Kirk Power Plant, and there are individual cards for the hydroelectric plants. The books date from 1935 through 1998, and the cards date between 1918 and 1965.

Dates

  • Majority of material found within 1918 - 1965
  • 1918 - 1998

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is housed at the Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center with no restrictions to access. The collection may be utilized during normal operating hours or by appointment.

Biographical / Historical

The Homestake Mining Company began to provide electricity to various mine workings in 1888 using dynamos from the Edison United Manufacturing Company. By the late 1890s, most of Homestake's operations were utilizing electricity, but with dynamos being expensive, Homestake began to look into how to generate their electricity locally. In 1904 Homestake's first hydroelectric plant was constructed a mile from the mouth of the Spearfish Canyon. To procure... water rights, Homestake agreed to supply power to the town of Spearfish and bought the Spearfish Electic Light and Power Company. The plant worked well, but it wasn't cost-effective to send power from the plant to Lead. The company decided to construct a larger plant closer to Lead using water from ditches the company already held rights for, near Englewood.

The Englewood Hydroelectric Plant was commissioned in 1906 and replaced steam power in the Monroe and Mineral Point Mills. The Englewood plant ran until 2001. In the summer of 1908, plans were made to construct a larger plant in lower Spearfish Canyon near the fish hatchery. This plant, Hydroelectric No. 1, began construction in 1909 and was completed in 1910. Workers utilized power from the 1904 hydroelectric plant to construct the pipelines and tunnels.

Work started on Hydroelectric No. 2 at Maurice in Spearfish Canyon in 1916 and was completed in 1918. After its completion, Homestake converted the Golden Gate and Old Brig hoists from steam power to electricity. Hydroelectric No. 2 operated from 1918 until it was decommissioned in October 2003. After 1918, with abundant hydroelectric power available, Homestake undertook new projects, including implementing an electric hoist for Ellison and air raises between levels. By 1925 Homestake was supplying all of its own electric needs.

In the 1930s, Homestake realized more power was needed to keep up with the increasing costs of gold mining and the Ross Shaft construction. With no more streams or rivers readily available, the company decided to build a coal-fired power plant in 1934. Costs for operating the Kirk Power Plant were kept low by Homestake obtaining the coal from its Wyodak operation in Gillette, Wyoming. The Kirk Power Plant's ownership and operation was transferred by Homestake to the Black Hills Power and Light Company in 1954. Two years later, Wyodak was sold to a subsidiary of Black Hills Power and Light. In the early 1990s, Black Hills Power and Light announced their intention to build a substation behind the Kirk Power Plant and closed the plant.

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Extent

43.0 Linear Feet (3 boxes and 80 unbound volumes)

Language of Materials

English

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Abstract

The Hydroelectric and Kirk Power Plant Operation Records consists of daily operation logs from the Homestake Mining Company's power plants. The bulk of the records date between 1918 and 1965.

Arrangement

The records are arranged chronologically. Books contain records from all the power plants unless noted in the title. Some years have more than one book. The daily report cards are records from all the hydroelectric plants. Please see box list for more information.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

These materials were transferred as a portion of one donation from the Homestake Mining Company on May 26, 2005.

Related Materials

Additional archival materials related to the Kirk Power Plant and the hydroelectric plants can be found in the Homestake Mining Company Collection.

Processing Information

This collection was processed in August 2020-December 2020 by Hannah Marshall Bawden. Assistance provided by Jim Petersen. The finidng aid was updated by Tia Stenson-Cunningham in 2023 when converting the finding aid from Archives Toolkit to Archivespsace with the help of Randi Smith.

Title
Hydroelectric and Kirk Power Plant Operation Records
Author
Finding aid prepared by Hannah Marshall Bawden and updated by Tia Stenson-Cunningham
Date
July 2023
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • 07/18/2023: On July 18, 2023 Randi Smith and Tia Stenson-Cunningham renamed the books to better reflect what the contents of the records was while updating the date records when converting the data from Archives Toolkit to Archives Space. During this time some additional "books" were added to better reflect the contents of the collection.

Repository Details

Part of the Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center Repository

Contact:
PO Box 252
150 Sherman St
Deadwood South Dakota 57732
605-722-4800