History of Hydropower on the Lower Clyde River

History of Hydropower on the Lower Clyde River. . , When Calvin Arnold of Randolph, Vermont, arrived in the Vermont-Quebec border region in about 1800, it was a vast land of big forests, big lakes, and free running streams. Native Americans, many of them Abenaki, called it their home. They hunted, fished, and lived along the lakes and streams, and some of their descendants still live in the region of Vermont today. The bodies of water served as convenient travel routes between other Native settlements in the surrounding regions. Mr. Arnold looked toward the falls a few yards downstream from this location as a source of natural energy to power river-dependent industries. At this point the river drops sharply on its end run toward Lake Memphremagog, creating steep, cascading falls. There are historical indicators that these falls were also very important to the Abenaki, most likely as a seasonal fishing spot. These cascades later became known as Arnolds Falls. , With big dreams for the falls, Mr. Arnold built a dam shortly after he arrived, the first of several dams but along this stretch of river over the next 150 years. You are standing in front of the only intact dam left in this section of river. The 713-foot long Clyde Pond dam was completed in 1918. , Life in the Arnolds Falls area flourished during much of the 1800s. In 1824 Mr. Arnold and his family built a small brick house about 100 yards from the top of the falls (the house stands to this day). Among the industries that sprang up along the falls and the nearby stretch of river were a pulp mill, a saw mill, a gristmill, a clover mill, a woolen mill, a tannery, and a nail forge. , By the late 1800s, the industries at Arnolds Falls were in the midst of a transformation. The industrial center was slipping downstream to the shores of Lake Memphremagog and factories along the falls began to disappear. In 1890-91 Charles Prouty, a prominent industrialist and native of Newport, organized the Newport Electric Light Company. To provide electricity to the local area, the newly formed electric company built a timber-crib dam and hydroelectric powerhouse in the vicinity of the current Newport generating station, downstream of Arnolds Falls. This original hydroelectric development ranks among the earliest in Vermont. , To help meet growing local demand for electricity, Newport's hydroelectric development continued to expand during the first half of the 20th century, with the addition in 1912 of a new concrete dam adjacent to the timber crib dam and the construction in 1918 of Prouty Dam (now known as the Clyde Pond Dam), which Forms Clyde Pond. Today, the natural energy of the Clyde River continues to play a part in powering the local community, just as it has for hundreds of years. , Photographs and text courtesy of Scott Wheeler/VT’s Northland Journal