⚡ Powering the Soo
When people think of great hydroelectric plants, Niagara often comes to mind. But on this day in history, the spotlight was on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where Francis Clergue unveiled a hydroelectric marvel in Sault Ste. Marie. After four years of construction, the Soo Hydropower Plant was ready to light up the region—and Clergue made sure it opened with a bang.
Clergue spared no expense in celebrating his achievement. Spending over $50,000 (a staggering amount at the time) on fireworks, bands, parades, and food, he turned the opening into a spectacle. Invitations went out to state officials, the governor, members of Congress from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, along with prominent businessmen, engineers, investors, and the press. Special trains carried guests from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Montreal, and Toronto. The event drew over 5,000 attendees.
Hitting the Switch
The second floor of the powerhouse became the party venue, while a civic and military parade marched through the streets. The highlight came when Clergue’s sister, Helen, threw a gold-and-jeweled switch. With that, two massive generators roared to life, illuminating strings of arc and incandescent lamps and setting a streetcar in motion on tracks laid from the powerhouse to the country club. Speeches followed, where Clergue painted a glowing picture of Sault Ste. Marie as the next great industrial hub, predicting it would soon grow into a city of over 100,000 people.
And the plant itself was no small feat. At the time, it was the longest low-head hydro plant in the world, with a design capacity of 40,000 horsepower—second only to Niagara Falls in the U.S. Its canal boasted the largest water-carrying section in the country, delivering 30,000 cubic feet of water per second. Built in the Classical style, the sandstone-faced powerhouse stretched 1,340 feet along the St. Marys River, housing 74 generators under one roof. The stone came directly from the very canal that fed the plant.
Historic Landmark
Though Thomas Edison did not build it, the facility became known as Edison Sault, honoring the pioneering spirit of large-scale electrical generation from the late 1800s. Over the years, it became a cornerstone of power in the Soo. President William Howard Taft even visited in 1911, and in 1983, the power canal and plant were designated a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.
Today, the Cloverland Electric Cooperative operates the plant, which still generates about 18 MW of electricity, making it one of the oldest large generating stations still in operation in the United States. While Sault Ste. Marie never quite reached Clergue’s dream of becoming the Midwest’s next industrial giant, the Soo Hydropower Plant remains a symbol of innovation, optimism, and the power of the St. Marys River.
The Soo Hydropower Plant’s grand opening was more than just an engineering milestone—it was a celebration of ambition and possibility. Over a century later, it still hums with history, a reminder of a time when one man’s vision and a city’s hopes lit up the Upper Peninsula.
