Harnessing the Cedar River's Might
Investors eye the Cedar River Falls to power sawmills and, eventually, send electricity surging into the city of Seattle.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A one-fourth interest in the water power of Cedar River falls has been sold to H. F. Whitney. The acquisition covers 2,000 cubic feet per second in the two falls, with a combined height of 200 feet. The investors propose to first use this power to operate shingle and sawmills, as 16,000 acres of timber are tributary to the falls. When a market for 10,000 horsepower is identified in Seattle or Tacoma, the group intends to install dynamos to transmit electricity. The power site is 35 miles from Seattle in a bee-line, serving a region with a population of 150,000.
“When Mr. Whitney and his associates can find a market for 10,000 horse power in Seattle, Tacoma and the adjacent country, they contemplate putting in dynamos.”
This early 1890s push for hydroelectricity from the Cedar River eventually led to the development of the Cedar Falls Powerhouse, which became crucial to Seattle's growth as a modern, electrified city. The reliance on remote natural resources for urban power is a central theme in Pacific Northwest development.
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