Power Plants Improve Lives 114 Years Ago

Today, we take our electric lights, appliances, water and electric heaters for granted. Our cities and towns have streetlights, and all homes and commercial buildings have electric lights. Look around and see how much in our homes are dependent on the electric grid. Whenever a storm puts out the power, it leaves us at a loss. Even gas heaters and furnaces very often have electric fans to push the heat into the room. But over 100 years ago, electricity was a new thing in Wyoming.

The first town in Wyoming to get electric lights throughout the town was Cheyenne in 1883. This from the Cheyenne Weekly Leader, January 18, 1883 – Electric Lights. Early yesterday evening the Brush arc lights in the stores and hotels of the city were burning for the first time. The managers were testing the wires and lamps, and after a trial of an hour or more the lights were permitted to go out. The electric lights in the city may not be in complete running order for a week. They’ will be put through a system of testing from day to day.

In 1909, the Wyoming Coal Mining Company at Monarch built a large power plant to use electricity for the mines, making mining more efficient. Electricity brought lights, conveyor belts, power drills and other electric tools rather than working everything by man power.

From the Sheridan Post Tuesday, March 16, 1909 – Good Power Plant Is In Operation at the Coal Mining Town of Monarch is in Charge of Charles Wilkin and a Force of Carefully Selected, Experienced Men— Coal Mining Company Has Also a Good Lighting Plant. The power and lighting plant of the Wyoming Coal Mining company is one of the best arranged and equipped of its kind the efficiency and excellent working condition of this magnificent plant is in the main due to Master Mechanic Charles Wilkin and his force carefully selected and experienced men. Mr. Wilkin has been at the head of this plant since coming here, nearly four years ago. He superintended the erection of the present commodious brick power house and has ever been on the lookout for any improvement that would further the efficiency of this very important factor in the successful mining of coal.

Mr Wilkin. before coming here, was chief engineer of the Deadwood electric lighting plant at Deadwood, S.D. and Mr. Birkhaeuser, has proven himself to be a person of excellent judgment in selecting as superintendent of the motive power of his mine a man of Mr. Wilkin’s caliber.

The present engineers of the plant are Leroy Lynn, who came here from Cambria, having occupied a similar position in that mine, he has held his present position two years. M. L. McColgan. a young man who had held a position in the Burlington train service as engineer for several years before coming here nearly three years ago, and Harry Harris, who received his training as an engineman on the Missouri and Pacific railroad at Pueblo, Colo., and is now entering on his second year’s service for the Wyoming Coal Mining Company. The firemen are Louis Murtz. Charles Weigand, Samuel Young and lames Quigley, who are all sober and industrious young men and have had careful training in their particular work. The building in which this plant is installed is of brick. 87X120 feet, and was erected three years ago to take the place of the old wooden building which had been in use since the beginning of coal mining at Monarch.

The building contains boiler, engine, machine and store room. In the boiler room there are three Kenney upright water tube boilers of 250 horsepower each, and having each a steam pressure of 140 feet per square inch; one fifteen horsepower Kenney open heater, two duplex boiler feed pumps, and one waterworks pump, of the capacity of 35,000 gallons of water per hour and fitted up so that a direct pressure 180 pounds per square inch can be put on city mains in case of fire.

The large engine room contains one 500-horsepower twin haulage engine. These engines will haul a load of 75 tons from the mine at eighteen miles per hour on a 6 percent grade. Air is furnished to ten puncher-cutter machines and four pumps in the mine by two Norwalk compressors, one of 200 horsepower and another of 80 horsepower.

In the electric room, there is one 176-horsepower Westlnghouse engine, and a 60 kw alternate furnishing light for the mines, office, store, tipples and the town.

All steam air and water pipes are hung overhead, the power for running the machinery at the tipples is located across the river near the tipples and consists of two tubular boilers of 100 horsepower each, open heater, a Duplex boiler feed pump and two engines of 75 horsepower each.

The store room located in the southeast corner of the building is 30×30 feet, and contains a ten thousand dollar stock of supplies needed for coal mining purposes. This store room is in charge of Charles Parker. The plant employs only union labor and the men work In three shifts of eight hours each. The machinery of power plant of the Wyoming Coal Mining company is in first class condition and reflects credit to Manager Birkhaeuser, Master Mechanic Wilkin, and his excellent corps of men.

The Acme Power Plant was constructed later, in 1911, and the coal-fired power plant operated until 1976. It provided power to the local mines, coal camps, and the City of Sheridan.

This from The Daily Enterprise on December 29, 1910 – Large Electric Plant Now Nearing Completion Expect to be In Operation by the First of February With 5000 Horse Power Installation. The new power plant of the Sheridan Electric Light and Power Company, just nearing completion at the confluence of Big Goose and Tongue River on the old Stover ranch and at a point near the new Acme mine, will be the biggest and most modern plant of the kind in the entire western country. J. P. Harrington is superintendent in charge for the New York construction firm of Sanderson & Porter and is renowned for his ability. Draftsmen who have been employed on this project are most proficient along their several lines.

This modern plant will be in operation about the first of February but will not be entirely completed until about July 1. Already the immense brick building is completed, and the machinery is now being installed. The dimensions are 100 by 75 feet with a height of 44 feet from the turban room to ceiling, two boilers of 400 horse power each are installed and for a starter foundation for three more have been made. The plant will commence operations about the 1st of February with 5,000 horse power initial installation. Two steam turban generators of 1.250 kilowatts apiece are already installed and several more of the same capacity of 1700 horse power apiece will be installed as soon as possible. One hundred cars of material, machinery, sand, etc., have been used in the erection and construction of this modern power plant.

Seventeen cars were necessary to convey the 300,000 brick used in the construction of the building and were supplied by the Sheridan Brick and Tile company. This one fact alone speaks well for a local enterprise in thus furnishing such an immense shipment of local product. The local plant will be used as a sub-station after this new plant is in operation. It cannot exceed 1,000 horse power and at present is being worked to its capacity. Three hundred and fifty horse power is being suppled to the Monarch coal mines every day through the high tension lines recently built from Sheridan to that camp. Two hundred horse power is also being supplied to the Acme mines every day. The power for both these mines is shut off at evening to give the entire service to the patrons in Sheridan. After midnight the Acme sires are again supplied and continued until the next evening.

It is hard to imagine today, when we just flip a switch, and the lights come on, the coffee pot works, the television comes on, that 114 years ago, electricity was a new thing in Wyoming. Cities saw the need for electricity and built power plants and electrified the towns. But even as late as the 1970s, many rural Wyoming people, unless they had a private generator, did not have electricity at all.

Today, thanks to the 1936 Rural Electrification Act, a part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, allowing the government to make low-cost loans to ranchers and farmers to create non-profit cooperatives to bring electricity to rural America, rural Wyoming residents have access to electric power.