Water Power!

Water Power!. . , Water wheels were common sources of energy in America throughout the 1800s and into the early 1900s., A Water Wheel is a machine that converts the energy of free-flowing water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. It consists of a large wooden or metal wheel, with a number of blades or buckets arranged on the outside rim forming the driving surface., Water wheels were invented between the 3rd and 1st century BC. The Romans used them for irrigation and as a power source., This water wheel is a replica of an Overshot Wheel, the most common style of water wheel used in St. Augustine and throughout the country., The Overshot Wheel harnesses the force of gravity on the water as it travels from the top to the bottom of the wheel. As the wheel turns, it powers the machinery inside the building., Around here, Water Wheels turned millstones to grind wheat and corn into flour. They powered presses to turn sugar cane into syrup, grind indigo into pigment, and wood into pulp for papermaking. Water wheels also ran the saw mills that cut trees into lumber.