Eastern Sierra Nevada
Power Plant Construction
California Electric Power Corporation
Nevada Power, Milling, & Mining Co.
Southern Sierras Power Company

Jordan
Lundy
Poole

All photos and text are from The Huntington Library Digital Collection unless otherwise noted

See USE NOTICE on Home Page.

Power House Locations

Bishop Creek - Power House No. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Jordan Powerhouse
(Map courtesy of U.S. Energy Information Administration)

Lundy (Mill Creek) and Poole Powerhouses
(Map courtesy of U.S. Energy Information Administration)

Rush Creek Powerhouse
(Map courtesy of U.S. Energy Information Administration)

Bishop Creek - Powerhouse No. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
and Big Pine Creek
(Map courtesy of U.S. Energy Information Administration)

Owens River Gorge Powerhouses and Pleasant Valley
(Map courtesy of U.S. Energy Information Administration)

Cottonwood Powerhouse
(Map courtesy of U.S. Energy Information Administration)

Haiwee Powerhouse
(Map courtesy of U.S. Energy Information Administration)

Jordan Powerhouse
Mill Creek

View of the Jordan Power House Plant and the areas it supplied power to.

Jordan Power House Disaster
by Cecil Page Vargo

Jack Wagon writes: A relative on mine, Paul Greenleaf, a junior operator at Jordan, was out reading meters and missed the avalanche that destroyed this site. He was up at the Lucky Boy mine at the time. He stated in an interview that it has snowed continuously from Feb. 20 until Mar. 8 (1911). Then at midnight on the 9th he reported the power went out to areas supplied by Jordan. He started snowshoeing from Bodie the next day at 4 a.m. but the storm was too great and he got lost and returned to Bodie. He garnered the help of a champion Swedish cross country skier to re-attempt to make it to Jordan. They finally made to the site that day but were unable to affect rescues. Local ranchers began digging on the 11th. Attempts were made to rescue survivors and it is reported that the snow was between 14 and 20 feet deep on the site. Only Mrs. Mason and her dog survived. She was taken to Conway Ranch, then on to San Francisco for recovery. Information from a book titled "Iron Men and Copper Wire," a Centennial History of So Cal Edison. December 2021

Avalanche on Copper Mountain (Jordan PH)
by Roger Mitchell

The Jordan Tragedy
by Barbara Moore

Avalanche at Jordan
Adapted from the Mineral County Independent News by Lily Mathieu LaBraque in her book Man From Mono

Jordan Powerhouse survey team after the avalanche heading out to the plant site.

All that remains of the Jordan Powerhouse complex after the avalanche

03/23

Remains of the Jordan Powerhouse disaster
(Photo courtesy of P Edmonds Young)

Jordan Powerhouse after avalanche

Jordan Powerhouse after avalanche


Digging out the remains of the Jordan Powerhouse after the avalanche

Jordan Powerhouse after avalanche

Jordan Powerhouse after avalanche

Jordan Powerhouse after avalanche

Bodie - 1912 - being supplied electricity by the Jordan Powerhouse

Looking down the steel pipe towards the powerhouse - halfway up the hill
near Copper Mountain

Arrival of the rotor a the powerhouse in 1910.

Powerhouse grounds - Jordan (Mill Creek) Plant

No. 1 Unit - Jordan (Mill Creek) Plant 1

Rear view of the powerhouse

Jordan (Mill Creek) Powerhouse - 1910

Jordan (Mill Creek) Powerhouse - 1910

Wood pipe after a snow storm - looking up Mill Creek Canyon

Steel pipe line - Mill Creek Plant

Entering a section of 30" steel pipe

Wood pipe in deep cut - lower end Mill Creek Plant

Powe36" wood gate on wood pipe

Laying 48" wood pipe on forest reserve

Yarding out the pipe

The donkey pulling itself up the hill.
This was used to pull steel pipe up the hill.

Tee and three sections of stand pipe

Head ends

Engine (donkey) used to pull steel pipe up the hill.

Lundy Powerhouse
Mill Creek

Lundy (Mill Creek) Plant
Water from Lundy Lake Reservoir is supplied to the plant through
11,840' of wood stave pipeline and 3,105' of steel pressure line of from
36" to 48" in diameter.
The generating equipment consists of two horizontal impulse water wheels,
direct-connected to two alternating current generators having a
combined capacity of 3,300 Kv-a.
Power from the Mill Creek Plant is transmitted to Leevining Creek Plant #3,
where connection is made to the balance of the System. This plant also
supplies power to the Mineral County power system of Nevada.

Lundy Lake Powerhouse

Mill Creek garage and lightning arrestor

Mill Creek Powerhouse

Interior of the Lundy powerhouse showing the automatic governor and the gate valves.

Lundy Lake Powerhouse interior showing two 1500 KW generators

Operators's cottages - Lundy Plant

Valve in the Lundy Powerhouse

Outdoor switching station at the Lundy Plant - Terminus of Bishop-Lundy Line

Control Station
Bowie Switch controlling the Lundy-Bishop line in the foreground.

Control Station

Control Station

Lundy Lake Dam construction - showing the concrete core wall
and the rock fill on the lower side.

Excavating the core wall at Lundy Lake Dam

Forms for the core wall on the Lundy Lake Dam

Lundy Spillway Gate

Lundy Lake Dam showing part of the downstream side of the core wall and back fill.

Lundy Lake Dam showing part of the upstream side of the core wall and back fill.

Lundy Dam construction

Lundy Dam construction

Lundy Dam construction

Lundy Dam construction

Spillway Pipe - Lundy Dam

Lundy Lake looking towards the dam

Wood stave flow line to the Lundy plant

Covered wood stave flow line to the Lundy plant

Terminus of the wood stave pipe and the head of the steel pressure pipe, showing
the pipe laid in the ground on an angle.

Steel pressure pipe leading to the Lundy Powerhouse before covering.

Steel pipeline being laid towards the Lundy Powerhouse

Leevining Creek Camp

Leevining Creek Camp

Leevining Creek Camp

Benton Station tractor shed.

Warehouse in Benton along the SPNG where supplies were stored.

Poole Powerhouse
Leevining Creek, Tioga Lake, Rhinedollar Lake, Saddlebags Lake

Poole Powerhouse
(Photo and text courtesy Library of Congress)

Poole Poorhouse in the winter

Poole Powerhouse

Poole Powerhouse - Leevining Creek
Water from Saddlebags, Tioga and Rhinedollar Reservoirs reach the Plant from
Rhinedollar Lake Intake through 2,453' of steel flowline, 1,856' of which is laid
through a tunnel and 3,740' of steel pressure line equipped with air relief valves
and concrete cushions.

Poole Plant interior
The generating equipment consists of one 14,000 horsepower, 360 RPM, impulse
water wheel, direct-connected to one 12,500 Kv-a., 360 RPM, 6,600 volt alternating
current generator, with exciter mounted on the same shaft.
The operating room, including storage battery room and storeroom, is
separated from the main power house floor by a partition.

Poole Plant interior

Poole Plant interior
The direct-connected water wheel, and 12,500 Kv-a, 6,600 volt alternating generator.

Transformers at Powerhouse No. 1 - Poole

Poole cottage (L) and Powerhouse (R)

Poole Plant cottage

Tioga Reservoir - July 1927
Situated at an elevation of 9,643', this reservoir has a storage capacity of 661 acre feet
and production value of 835,000 kilowatt-hours. The Natural lake was raised by a 5'
earth-filled, timber-faced dam and a 9' cut made for drainage.

Leevining Creek powerhouse #3 grounds

Leevining Creek powerhouse #3 warehouse and headquarters

Leevining Creek powerhouse #3 cottage

Leevining Creek powerhouse #3

Leevining Creek powerhouse #3

Rhinedollar construction camp

Leevining Creek - Plant #3
Water from Leevining Creek No. 3 intake below the Poole Plant is supplied to the
Plant #3 through 3,362' of Redwood stave pipe and 1,961' of steel pressure
line of from 42" to 48" in diameter.
The generating equipment consists of one single runner, double discharge
horizontal turbine of 3,500 horsepower direct-connected to a 2,500 Kv-a
alternating current generator.
Power generated at Leevining Creek Plant #3 is delivered to the transmission
line from the Poole Plant to the Rush Creek Plant which is looped into the
Leevining Creek #3 substation to facilitate switching and operation.

Tioga Dam construction - 1928

Tioga Dam construction - 1928

Saddlebags Reservoir - July 1927
This reservoir has a capacity of 11,138 acre feet, and is the main storage reservoir of the Leevining Creek Hydro-Electric Development of the Nevada-California Power Company.
The water impounded here has a production value of 14,073,000 kilowatt-hours when released and used through the Poole Plant and Leevining Creek Plant #3.

Road to Rhinedollar Lake (L)

Rhinedollar Reservoir - 1927
Situated below Saddlebags and Tioga Reservoirs, Rhinedollar Lake Reservoir has a storage capacity of 745 acre feet and a production value of 942,000 kilowatt-hours.
Located at the brink of Leevining Creek Falls, Rhinedollar is the intake reservoir for the Poole Power Plant and Leevining Creek Power Plant #3.

Leevining Creek / Canyon below the Poole Plant

Road to the Poole Powerhouse

Saddlebags Dam - Leevining Creek
This is a rock-filled, timber-faced structure with a concrete up-stream cut-off wall.
It was completed in 1925

Rainbow Camp - Mono Lake

Rainbow Camp - Mono Lake off in the distance

Tractor and transformer hauling sled at Rainbow Camp

The First Lady Hydro-Operator
by Eunice Yongue

Poole Powerhouse in the winter of 1924

Loading up pipe at Benton for the Poole powerhouse.

Workers at Mono Lake - 1923

Mr. & Mrs Webb near Mono Lake - 1923

Navigating the road to Poole in the winter.

Workers on the Mono Lake road to Poole - 1924

Saddlebags camp - repair shop and compressor shed

Saddlebags camp - storage shed

Laying steel pipe for the Poole Powerhouse

Poole Power Plant under construction

Poole Power Plant under construction

Poole Power Plant under construction

Steel pipe for the Poole Power Plant

Poole Power Plant under construction

Laying steel pipe for the Poole Power Plant

Laying steel pipe for the Poole Power Plant

Poole Power Plant under construction

Poole Power Plant under construction

Poole Power Plant transformers

Hauling cement and a transformer for the Poole Power Plant

The road to Benton, CA - Benton is one mile off in the distance

The road to Benton, CA

The road to Benton, CA

The road to Benton, CA

The road to Benton, CA - to the Poole and Rush Creek Power Plants

The road to Benton, CA

The road to Benton, CA

The road to Benton, CA

Hauling freight from Benton, CA to the Poole and Rush Creek Powerhouses

Benton, CA - 1922-25

Benton, CA

Benton, CA - 1922-25

Workers taking a break during construction of the Poole Power Plant