HISTORY NEBRASKA MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID
RG0824.AM: Niobrara River Power Project (Valentine, Nebraska)
Engineering Report, 1909
Cherry County, Nebraska: Private utility project
Size: One item
BACKGROUND NOTE
On May 13, 1909, Mr. C.H. Cornell of Valentine, Nebraska, contracted the Kansas City, Missouri, engineering firm of W.K. Palmer Company to survey a site near the confluence of the Niobrara and Minnechuduza Rivers, and to prepare a report and drawings of a possible dam and power generating plant at that site. The dam and plant were built around 1915, although not to the sale suggested by the 1909 report. They were operated as a private utility until the early 1940s, when Nebraska adopted public power districts statewide. The Nebraska Public Power District operated the structures, called the Cornell Dam and Niobrara Hydroelectric Generating Station, until 1985. In 1986, the public power district turned the land and structures over to the United States Department of the Interior, and they became part of the Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
This collection consists of a single bound report, submitted to C. H. Cornell by the W. K. Palmer Company in November 1909. It includes sections on the Niobrara River, design of the proposed dam and power station, specifications, financial estimates, and accompanying charts and drawings.
INVENTORY
Niobrara River Power Project Report, 1909
Subject headings:
Cornell, C. H.
Niobrara River
Niobrara River Power Project (Valentine, Nebraska)
Public power — Nebraska
Public utilities — Nebraska
Valentine (Nebraska)
Water power
Revised TMM 12-22-2006
