Category:Rocky Ford, Manhattan, Kansas
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Rock Ford is a location on the Big Blue River (Kansas) near Manhattan, Kansas. It is the site of a 14 feet (4.3 m) high, hollow concrete low head dam. Constructed initially in the 1860s to grind grain and saw lumber, then to generate electricity, the site was donated as a state park in 1967. Over the decades, four different dams were constructed on the site.
- 1866-1869 An initial straight buttress dam of oak timbers built, resulting quicksand mitigated, and the 4 story stone mill house constructed
- 1886-1891 This first dam is washed away in floods[1][2][3]
- 1890s Second timber and stone gravity dam built and lost, mill fell into disuse
- 1908-1910 Rocky Ford Milling and Power Company built the third concrete and stone masonry arch dam, hydroelectric turbines installed, steam plant added
- 1919 In forming United Power and Light Corporation, C. L. Brown acquired the power plant, the third dam failed, mill house roof destroyed by fire and replaced
- 1920 Present hollow concrete dam constructed
- 1932 Kansas Power & Light Company acquired the power plant[4]
- 1952-1962 Construction of Tuttle Creek Dam and River Pond
- early 1960s Kansas Power & Light ceased power generation at the dam
- 1967 Kansas Power & Light donated the dam and land to State of Kansas, which founded Rocky Ford State Fishing Area[4]
- 2006 Riley County acquired west bank, founding Rocky Ford Outdoor Recreation Area[5]
- ↑ (February 12, 1886). "The ice in the Blue River has broken and it is reported that the Rocky Ford dam is in danger of going out with the ice.". Manhattan Nationalist: 3.
- ↑ (May 16, 1889). "Saturday.". The Manhattan Republic: 5. "Maj. Adams thinks the best thing mentioned yet in the line of improvement [of Manhattan] is the electric power, to be obtained by damming the Blue at Rocky Ford [inferring that the dam was at least partially wrecked] ...."
- ↑ (June 25, 1891). "Personal Paragraphs. — Saturday.". The Manhattan Republic: 2. "As a result of Nebraska storms last Wednesday and Thursday, the Blue rivers was much above the high-water mark, and the flood is bringing with it great quantities of rubbish and drift wood. the bridges have been fairly lined with boys spearing for whatever may be of any value. We understand another section of the dam at Rock ford has been washed out, leaving only a few feet near the mill."
- ↑ a b (October 16, 1967). "Historic 'Rocky Ford Dam' Given to State Of Kansas". The Emporia Gazette: 12.
- ↑ Ned Seaton, Staff Writer (April 30, 2006). "Changes (for the) Greater Good / Background Linking Rocky Ford to Tuttle". The Manhattan Mercury: 17.
Media in category "Rocky Ford, Manhattan, Kansas"
The following 4 files are in this category, out of 4 total.
-
Grist Mill and Rocky Ford Dam, Manhattan, Kansas, c. 1910.jpg 6,498 × 4,120; 7.98 MB
-
Rocky Ford Power Plant, Manhattan, Kansas, 1944.png 960 × 720; 1.32 MB
-
Rocky Ford School, Manhattan, from north.jpg 2,816 × 2,112; 1.28 MB
-
Rocky Ford spillway in Manhattan Kansas.jpg 4,032 × 3,024; 4.56 MB
