Allegan County Heritage Trail Tour
The Allegan County Tourist Council has developed a self-guided tour so that people can discover and have adventures into the history, sights and sounds of Allegan County. This tour will allow people to see historic villages and towns as well as bountiful farmlands and orchards which were and still are the backbone of this rural county. More information on the Heritage Trail Tour can be found at www.allegancounty.org/heritagetrail/. This tour has numerous stops, but it is not necessary to do them in order, they can be completed in any order.
We plan to place caches at each historic stop along this tour. Our goal with this series is to have fun, but also to enjoy the beautiful sites of Allegan County. We also hope that we can bring some history of the area to people who are interested. Now let’s get on with our journey.
Pine Creek Dam
In the early days the Kalamazoo River provided an important means of transportation and a source of power to drive the mills. With the advent of the railroad in the 1900’s, the river was no longer important for transportation. With the introduction of electricity, the river was transformed into a source for electricity by powering the turbines. This dam provided some of the first generally available electricity in the county.
The Pine Creek Dam went into service September 20, 1899 and produced 22,000 volts of electricity. Electricity was transmitted to Kalamazoo over a twenty-four mile long power line strung alone windmill towers. Both the distance of transmission and the high voltage were so unprecedented that the Russian Imperial Court sent engineers to study the dam in the early 1900’s.
The dam no longer exists but if you walk to the edge of the river, you can still see the spillway and some remnants of the dam.
This cache is hidden in normal geo-fashion. Please replace as found to keep it hidden. There is no real parking here; you have to park on the side of the road. Have Fun!!
FTF prize is an unactivated FTF geocoin