Wood Stave Pipe From Pinnacles Hydro Electric Development

Wood Stave Pipe From Pinnacles Hydro Electric Development. . , Harnessing water for power began early in the history of Patrick County as grist mills sprang up on nearly every stream of any size. In the early 20th Century, even a few small electric generators were sited at mill dams in some areas of the county., In the early 1930s, however, a more significant project arose when the City of Danville decided to tap the Dan River near Meadows of Dan, some 82 miles west of that city, to provide additional electricity for its growing population and industrial base., Engineers planned and workers constructed the Talbott and Townes Dams, a power plant in Kibler Valley, and all the necessary connecting pipleines and flurries to convert water power into electricity., Though some transfer of water was through concrete and steel, a 70-inch diameter wooden stave pipe made up the longest section of pipeline at some 5,400 feet. Made of western Douglas Fir, it reamined a in service from before the project's dedication in 1938 until 2004, nearly 70 years, when it was replaced by a steel pipe. Local concerned citizens alogn with town and county officials salvaged, moved, and installed this short section of pipe to save it from destruction and for display here as part of county history. More information on this incredible Depression-Era engineering project is available in the Patrick County Historical Museum.