When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Northwest Michigan Antique or Vintage Postcard item: RPPC Real Photo postcard, Color Chrome, or Printed Photo image collectible postcard. If a Photo and not an RPPC card, it is something that would be of interest to Postcard Collectors and History Buffs of all types. See the complete description below.
DOWNSTREAM VIEW...NW Benzonia Beulah Frankfort MI RPPCBetsie River Upstream View or Downstream Spillway View Old BENZIE POWER COMPANY HYDROELECTRIC DAM before Consumers Power ownership...Homestead Dam on the Betsie River...No longer in place as of 1974...Photographer UNK...
Benzie County, Betsie River, Homestead Dam. In 1903 the village voted to build a dam on the Betsie River. Built in 1914. It operated until it was sold to Cherryland Rural Cooperative in 1945. The dam was later owned by Consumers Power (later yet called Consumers Energy) before it was mostly removed in 1974.
Construction of the hydroelectric dam began in 1912 and was completed in 1913/14. It remained in place and operational until the early 1970s. Interestingly the migratory fishery was managed witha fish ladder/trap located between the turbine outflow and the spillway. The Michigan Conservation Dept. (at the time) would manually remove fish from the trap and dump (BY HAND) fish upstream of the dam.
Primarily used for electricity, the dam was later removed in 1974 to improve river ecosystems. That was short-lived as the upstream former power-generating Thompsonville Dam breached in 1989, sending huge quantities of sand and marl downstream, contaminating the fisheries and affecting the aquatic environment, native trout breeding ground for years, nearly wiping out all native trout species. Downstream sediment and bank erosion resulting from the 1989 collapse is still evident today.
Regarding the fishery, the Betsie River depends on stocking of steelhead and salmon yet today, and some natural reproduction is slowly coming back! Salmon and trout have access to the entire mainstream of the river!...
Please Note: We provide high-resolution scans and cropped views for your review. Don't hesitate to get in touch with us with any questions. We do not knowingly sell reproductions, so you can be assured these are historically significant, antique, or vintage items!
Shipping Discount for multiple card "Winners"! Order tracking...We post "Buyer response" at the time of shipping!
Shipped very well package, USPS 1st Class postage, or Priority Mail with tracking!
Quantity shipping discount refunds sent along with all shipment (dollar bills) where they apply!
Check outourUpNorth Memories Store to see more great collectibleitems!
UpNorth MemoriesPostcards, Historic Photographsand Paper Collectibles!
Don Harrison...The UpNorth Memories Guy! Traverse City, Michigan.
#upnorthmemories Mobile Format Modified: updated 8-13-2022 #upnorthmemoriescollection
Powered by SixBit's eCommerce Solution
