| Additional Information: | The Perch Lake Dam, located on the La Crosse River, is a concrete gravity dam [separate record] featuring metal control gates, a concrete flume and wooden wheel or turbine house [this record]. The frame turbine house, adjacent to the gated spillway, exhibits a simple vernacular gabled form characterized by exposed ends and rectangular windows. The wheelhouse has been altered by the replacement of the windows with board panels and the turbine has been removed.
The concrete dam was designed and constructed during the year 1924-1925 by the Byllesby Company engineers, who serviced the electric plants and hydrodams for the Standard Gas and Electric Company, the parent company of the local Northern States Power Company. Early electric power in Sparta was provided by the Newton Company, who owned the Sparta Dam site on Perch Lake and the La Crosse River and the hydrodam at Angelo as well. The Newtons sold the utility operation to Minnesota Light and Power around 1917. The hydrodam and plant at Perch Lake was sold a few years later to Northern States Power CO. in 1923. The new owners, "realizing the vital interest of Sparta citizens in maintaining Perch Lake," proceeded immediately to construct a new dam. Although no longer providing electric power, the Perch Lake dam continues to provide recreational and aesthetic pleasure for the community.
The brick and frame powerhouse (MO 33/7) [separate record] located adjacent to the dam is extant but is not significant because it has been remodeled and no longer displays the character of the period of its significance.
The Northern States Power Dam and Turbine Huose was erected in 1924-1925.
Municipal electric power began in Sparta in 1889, but it was not until 1913 or so that an electric light power plant at a dam site was located on the La Crosse River. For years thereafter, this water power site produced munipal electric power for the City of Sparta and the nearby vicinity. The electricity supplied power for machinery, for street lighting, and for commercial and residential lighting needs. George Newton was the general manager of the Newton Sons Electric Co. which erected this earlier dam.
The Newtons owned and operated the electric company until 1917, when they sold the company to Wisconsin-Minnesota Light and Power Co. This company probably improved the dam sie and built the present building next to the dam there. In 1924, Wisconsni-Minnesota Light and Power Co. changed its name to Northern States Power (NSP). Thereafter, NSP reconstructed the dam and turbine house on the La Crosse River. Northern States Power has continuously used the La Crosse River dam site for hydro-electric power. The present dam site and hydro-power buildings associated with the site are NSP properties in use since the mid-1920's.
The Northern States Power Hydro Dam and Turbine House gains local historical significance under Criteria A in association with the utilities:electric topic of the Commerce Theme. The dam and turbine house were important munipal power improvements that served the community's needs. The dam and turbine period of significance ranges from their erection in 1924-1925 to today.
The Northern States Dam and Wheel House do not meet the criteria of the NRHP for engineering significance. However, this property is significance under Criterion A because of its association with early electric power production in Sparta. It is also significant because of the presence of a dam at this site which has been a significance feature in the landscape of Sparta since the mid-19th century. |
|---|
| Bibliographic References: | (A) Sanborn-Perris Insurance Maps, 1889, 1894, 1900, 1911, 1922, 1931.
(B) Richards, Randolph A., History of Monroe County, Wisconsin: Past and Present, Including and Account of the Cities, Towns and Villages of the County. Chicago: C.F. Cooper and Co., 1912,pp. 270 and 275-276.
(C) Sparta Democrat, June 1, 1899.
(D) Unknown Newspapers, "Sparta, Wisconsin: A Northern Town with a 'Western Feel' of Pines and Bluffs", N.D.
(E) Barney, Tyler Davis, "A History of the Growth of Sparta, Wisconsin, 1850 to 1890." B.A. Thesis, University of Wisconsin, 1922, p. 38.
(F) Gregory, John G., West Central Wisconsin: A History. Vol. 2, Indianapolis: S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1933, p. 710.
(G) Koehler, Lyle P., From Frontier Settlement to Self-Conscious Americam Community: A History of One Rural Village (Sparta, Wisconsin) in the Nineteenth Century. Evansville, Indiana: Unigraphic, Inc., 1977, p. 99.
(H) Jones, Ida Lucille, "A History of Sparta, Wisconsin." B.A. Thesis, University of Wisconsin, 1915, p. 13.
(I) Sparta Centennial Celebration Committee, Sparta Incorporation City Centennial: 1883-1983 (1983), Unpublished Pamphlet, p. 44.
(J) "Ice Harvesting," Monroe County Historical Society Vol. III, no. 1 (June 1979): 1.
(K) Sparta Herald, December 2, 1920; August 7, 1923; August 14, 1924.
(L) McDonald, F., Let There Be Light, 1881-1955 (Madison: American History Research Center, 1957), pp. 188-189. |
|---|
