Craig Learoyd's Images of Folsom

News, Features

Resident Guide

Check out all of MyFolsom's Photo Journals!

December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
June 2009
August 2009
September 2009
October 2009
November 2009
December 2009
February 2010
March 2010
April 2010

Folsom Powerhouse

Looking for a journey back in time, then the Folsom Powerhouse is the place to go.

In operation from 1895 to 1952, it was the first hydroelectric power plant in California and supplied electricity to the growing city of Sacramento. In case you haven't been there, or even if you have, here's a photo tour of this amazing historical treasure.

Let's start at the beginning. The structure in the foreground is the diversion dam for which construction started in 1867. It diverted water out of the American River, which is visible to the right, for the short journey down to the powerhouse. The structures in the background are those of Folsom Prison. Prison labor was used in the construction of the diversion dam and canal.

These are hydraulic lifts which operated headgates along the canal. It hard to see here, but the canal runs behind and parallel to these lifts. The headgates were like doors that could be opened to release excess water back into the American River.

This is the forebay to the powerhouse. Back in the day this would have been full of water. At the far end the headgates and hydraulic lifts are visible, which controlled the flow of water into the penstocks leading to the generators. The roof of the powerhouse can be seen beyond the forebay. The forebay not only stored water for the generators, but also served as a settling area for sediment and debris.

Moving inside the powerhouse building these large vertical tubes called penstocks carried the water down onto the generator turbines. The turbines were connected via driveshafts to the electrical generators which were housed in a separate room.

Here we are in the generator room which contains four, 30 ton General Electric generators. Each generator stands over 8 feet tall and had a combined output of 3000 kilowatts.

This is a wider view to give a better sense of overall scale.

These generators were shipped around Cape Horn, South America. The apparatus to the left is the governor which controlled the speed of the generator in response to electrical demand.

Each generator bears one of these plates. Check out the patent dates!

And here is a closeup of the governor assembly. It was a feedback system which controlled the generator speed by adjusting the flow of water over the turbine.

This is a level indicator for the forebay, which resides high on the wall in the powerhouse.

After the water passed through the turbines, it exited in the afterbay to be returned to the American River. The water looks green here beacuse today it is stagnant and loaded with green alge.