I’m always on the lookout for unusual trivia. For example, something stuck in my mind a couple of years ago when I learned about the Augusta Canal. Logically it’s located in Augusta, Georgia, but that’s not what mattered. There was another claim that took a variety of forms. So I put that one on the discard pile for awhile and finally returning to it today.
- Maybe, “the only canal in the world still used for its original purpose of providing power to textile mills.”
- Perhaps, “One of the only intact, functioning American 19th century industrial power canal systems.”
- Perchance, “the nation’s only industrial power canal still in use for its original purpose.”
It was definitely remarkable and noteworthy. However, I felt I needed to verify that claim, although nobody seemed to agree on what it was exactly. I discarded the national and worldwide assertions. Invariably those kinds of statements trend towards hyperbole and an enterprising 12MC reader will prove them wrong soon enough anyway. Instead, I focused on whether the Augusta Canal retained its original purpose.
Did It?
Simple enough. So what was the original purpose? Again I ran into much of the same silliness. Most sources specified industrial power. Still, others threw in a secondary purpose, a source of drinking water, or even a tertiary purpose, transportation. Talk about hedging one’s bets. At the logical extreme it meant that as long as anyone continued to use the canal for power, water or boating, one could still claim the canal served its original purpose. I took a strong position and stuck with power production. Did the Augusta Canal still provide power for industrial purposes? That should be a simple yes or no.
I rewound the clock and reviewed the Augusta Canal History page provided by the Augusta Canal National Heritage Area. To summarize, the canal began in 1845 along the fall line of the Savannah River. This was a particularly fortunate and favorable location for power production. Industry could harness the elevation drop for hydro-mechanical power using tools such as water wheels. This allowed factories to flourish along the site.
The canal became one of the few industrial areas located in the southern U.S. before the outbreak of the Civil War. So it also became a natural choice for secessionists to construct the Confederate Powderworks, their gunpowder factory. Augusta survived the war better than most Georgia cities and boomed during Reconstruction, with a string of textile mills and ironworks. However, the latter half of the 20th Century wasn’t kind to this type of industrialization. The mills began to close, one by one.
That background information helped. I simply needed to find an intact mill or factory still powered by the canal. It didn’t sound promising, though.
Enterprise Mill
The Enterprise Mill and Granite Mill ceased operations in 1983. Since then it became, in real estate speak, “an extraordinary setting for working in commercial office space and living in residential lofts and apartments.” It was reborn as an excellent example of urban renewal and repurposing after many years of decay and neglect. In addition to offices and apartments, the Enterprise Mill also provided a home for the Augusta Canal National Heritage Discovery Center.
Here’s the best part. The Discovery Center included a Hydropower Demonstration Turbine. It used canal water to create “hydro-mechanical power which drives the line shaft mounted on the ceiling. The paddle fan above the gift shop operates directly from the line shaft power“. So, in one very small way it continued to provide its original purpose. But that was for a lone ceiling fan in a gift shop in a single former textile mill building. Could I do better?
I also needed to consider another historical fact. Power generated by the canal switched from hydro-mechanical to hydro-electric in the 1890’s.
Sibley Mill
Sibley Mill was another of the old historic structures, in this case constructed in 1882. It producing textiles all the way up until 2006. The chimney was a nonfunctional element by the way. It was an historic relic from the old Powderworks, and gave the property a distinctive appearance.
Soon after its closure, the Augusta Canal Authority purchased the site with the intent of preserving and redeveloping it. They wanted to follow the pattern of the successful Enterprise Mill. The latest information I uncovered came from a local television station in (October 2013): apparently the structure might become the Mills Campus of Georgia Regents University.
More significantly for the purpose of my search, the Augusta Canal Authority continued to operate the hydropower unit at the Sibley Mill Site “for its own use and sells the surplus to the Georgia Power Company”. The Authority used canal-generated electricity although not for an industrial purpose, but it still seemed promising. Could I find something even better?
King Mill
The King Mill sealed the deal. The J. P. King Mill began operations in 1883 and closed at the turn of the 21st Century. The Authority purchased the property and leased it to Standard Textile, which continues to operate the premise as a mill, as one can see clearly in Google Street View. Best of all, 50% of their electrical power comes from the canal and the rest from Georgia Power.
That was enough to convince me. The Augusta Canal has indeed maintained it’s original purpose, providing power to fuel industry since its inception in 1845.
Not Completely Unrelated
You said butt. Uh huh huh huh.
I discovered Butt Bridge. It crosses the historic Augusta Canal and was named for Archibald Willingham Butt. He was a passenger on the Titanic who did not survive.
Recently I featured bridge sculptures and was pleased to observe that Butt Bridge had some impressive statuary as well (Street View). No, they were not butts.
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