The Early Years
In 1893 the Belt Light and Power Company of Lead was organized by J. D. C. Rumsey, V. T. Price, and J. D. Baker. With offices in Lead, the Company built a steam plant at Pluma, halfway between Lead and Deadwood. The plant was equipped with two General Electric (GE) 1500 kW vertical turbines, one GE 750 kW vertical turbine, and two 500 kW motor generator sets which converted ll,000 volts A.C. to 600 volts D.C. for the Burlington inter-urban trolleys that ran between Deadwood and Lead. A mining booklet dated 1904 said that this Company supplied all the current for lighting and power used in Lead, Pluma, Central City and Terry, and by 1905 the Company was furnishing 11,000 volts of energy to the mines and mills in the vicinity.
Consolidated Power and Light Company
In June 1905, the Lead and Deadwood companies were merged and the Consolidated Power and Light Company of South Dakota, a Wyoming corporation, was formed. Mr. Harris Franklin, Deadwood, one of nine directors, was elected president. The Company considered Newcastle, Wyoming, as the site for a new power plant, but finally enlarged the Pluma Plant to 3,500 kilowatts. Distribution lines were built to Lead and Deadwood at 2,300 volts and power for the rapidly growing gold mining operations was served at 11,000 volts in the Bald Mountain and Galena districts.
At a special meeting of the stockholders of the Company, held at its office in Beulah, Wyoming, on April 29, 1908, they passed a resolution for the sale and transfer of all assets to a new corporation, organized under the laws of Maine and called "Consolidated Power and Light Company of South Dakota". By 1916, Consolidated Power and Light Company of South Dakota, principal office in Deadwood, South Dakota, was a Maine Corporation and was successor to a Wyoming Corporation of the same name which was a consolidation of the Belt Light and Power Company of Lead, South Dakota, and the Black Hills Electric Company of Deadwood, South Dakota. The Company owned, through purchase, all the physical property, franchises and contacts of; the Black Hills Traction Company, a South Dakota corporation; The Black Hills Water Power Company, a Wyoming corporation; the Belle Fourche Electric Light, Heat and Power Company, a South Dakota corporation; Spearfish Electric Light and Power Company; and the Sturgis Power and Light Company. The Maine Company was organized on May 1, 1908, and continued in existence until its properties were acquired by General Public Utilities, Incorporated, on November 1, 1935.
The Northern Black Hills area was fortunate in that the extensive use of electric power for mining operations made it possible to obtain electricity for domestic and public purposes at prices which otherwise would have been impossible. Installation of ornamental street lighting systems in Lead and Deadwood in 1911 consisted of 34 ornamental iron brackets mounted on the steel trolley poles along Main Street in Lead, and 59 cast-iron posts with five 50-candlepower lamps on each post in Deadwood. Strangers were impressed with the modern street lighting system and the many illuminated electric signs. This new way of advertising was quickly recognized by the merchants who realized the advantages of this kind of advertising. People moving to the area were impressed and surprised how advanced the electric industry was compared to other parts of the country.
Mr. Henry Keets, who owned a farm in the Redwater area, conceived the idea of using the waters of Redwater Creek to produce power. Mr. Keets succeeded in gaining the interest of 12 men who, with Mr. Keets, organized the Black Hills Traction Company shortly before 1894.
The Black Hills Traction Company was organized under the laws of the State of South Dakota. This Company developed a dam and hydro-plant near the junction of Crow Creek and Redwater Creek which was completed in April 1907. This plant consisted of two l,000 horsepower Pelton water wheels, connected directly to two 500 kilowatt Westinghouse generators.
According to reports, the Black Hills Traction Company was organized with the idea of constructing and operating a trolley between the towns of Belle Fourche, Spearfish, Deadwood, Whitewood and St. Onge. For some reason the trolley line idea was never fulfilled.
The principal market for the power developed was in the immediate vicinity of Lead and Deadwood. These two towns had a combined population in 1908 of between 16 and 17 thousand people. The Company served eight mines with a total installed horsepower of 1450.
In the summer of 1907, a 23,000 volt line was constructed that supplied power to the Golden Reward and the Imperial Mining Companies near Deadwood. Shortly thereafter, a line was built into Lead to supply power to the Flat Iron and Wasp Number 2 mines. In 1909 a line was constructed from Redwater No. 1 to serve the Belle Fourche Electric Light, Heat and Power Company in that city.
Black Hills Traction Company never did supply energy to Spearfish, but the company did play an important part in the development of electricity in this area. It also had a franchise for furnishing light and power within the city limits of Deadwood and constructed a small steam plant known as the First Ward Plant near the present high school football field. They were in direct competition with Consolidated Power and Light Company. On June 30, 1910, Consolidated Power and Light Company acquired the property. The Redwater #l Plant operated from 1907 until June of 1966 when it ceased to operate, but not without having played an important part in the lives of the Black Hills pioneers. Consolidated never operated the First Ward Steam Plant.