The Falls & our Founding Fathers

[x_SF_res1]

I remember hearing a story that to get a mill to set up shop in at the falls our founding fathers damed up the river up-stream and belw the damn about an hour before they toured the mill owners past the site making the falls appear to be about 5 times as strong as they actually were.
Part of the foundation of the mill is/was still there when I was a kid on the non-park side of the falls, so, if the story is true the ploy worked.
I always wondered if there was any truth to this story, does anyone know?

[gfsfadmin]

That is the rumor, though I don't know if it was ever proven.

Regardless, there was enough power in the falls to run the mill, however not enough mill business to keep the doors open more than a couple of years. Downstream just a bit was a power plant that used the force of the river to provide power for the local trolleys.

[SoDakDan]

From what I understand, this is a true story. However, they didn't dam and release the river for the Queen Bee Mill developers, rather they did it for a group of reports from the East. Newspapers were the only media back then so it was a big deal to get your town mentioned in any article. A positive article could mean that people would invest here. The reporters were here on a whistle stop tour and were only going to be here for an hour or two. When they saw the rushing water of the falls, they filled their articles with positive statements about the little town with potential. By the time the train left, the falls went back to its normal flow.