Power to Make Power
Although electricity was a relatively new technology at the turn of the 20th Century, electric lights and machines quickly became popular. In addition to its use in homes and industries, electricity was needed for construction. But in a region without power, where would the electricity required to build the dams and powerhouse at Thompson Falls come from?
To provide initial power to the area, the Prospect Creek generating facility was built in 1912-13. Look across the Clark Fork River and you'll see the foundation remains of its powerhouse at the mouth of Prospect Creek.
The Prospect Creek facility supplied power for the lights, compressors and pumps used to construct the much-larger Thompson Falls Project, which began generating its own electricity in 1915. The Prospect Creek power plant also brought the first electricity to Thompson Falls, Plains, Paradise, and other Clark Fork Valley locations. Customers paid $2 monthly for 110 volt service that could be adjusted to light several light bulbs.
To make electricity at Prospect Creek, water was diverted into a wooden flowline at a small dam, about 1 mile up the creek. The flowline carried the water to the top of the hillside above the powerhouse, where it dropped through a penstock. The force of the water falling to the powerhouse spun a Pelton waterwheel, which was connected to a generator.
Although the Prospect Creek power plant produced little electricity by today's standards, it was enough to meet the region's first power needs. High water flows in the Clark Fork River during spring runoff caused problems at the Prospect Creek facility, and it was decommissioned soon after the Thompson Falls Project came online.
From the Plaque