Property Record
COUNTY HIGHWAY K
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Chalk Hill Hydroelectric Facility |
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| Other Name: | Chalk Hill Hydroelectric Facility |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 44311 |
| Location (Address): | COUNTY HIGHWAY K |
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| County: | Marinette |
| City: | |
| Township/Village: | Amberg |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | 35 |
| Range: | 22 |
| Direction: | E |
| Section: | 7 |
| Quarter Section: | |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: |
| Year Built: | 1926 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | |
| Historic Use: | public utility/power plant/sewage/water |
| Architectural Style: | Early Gothic Revival |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Holland, Ackerman, and Holland |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. Just as a cathedral exalts the glory of God, so this hydroelectric facility celebrates the presumed power of Man to harness nature to his own ends. A plaque inside the powerhouse pays tribute to those who, with science and technology, “produced these monuments of beauty & power for the benefit & comfort of man." In an era when an engineer seemed almost like a modern Hercules, creating monumental dams and channeling electricity, Chicago engineers Holland, Ackerman, and Holland designed this powerhouse in a Gothic style more commonly seen in houses of worship. Buttressed pilasters and pointed windows, outlined by compound arches and a brick drip molding, rhythmically punctuate reddish brick walls, which rise above a reinforced-concrete foundation. The interior makes the most striking allusion to church architecture. Amber, blue, and pink light streams through stained-glass windows and splashes the glazed brick walls. The heavily beamed ceilings, ornate wall sconces, mosaic floors, and art-glass windows create an almost reverential atmosphere for the three large hydroelectric generators, manufactured by Allis-Chalmers of Milwaukee (these were automated in 1983). The entire structure spans the Menominee River just above Rosebush Lake. A 300-foot-long reinforced-concrete spillway extends from the powerhouse, connected to the west bank of the river by an earthen embankment about 460 yards long. Electric hoists operate eleven Tainter gates, 12 feet high and twice as wide. A fish chute at the end of the spillway is no longer operational. Northern Electric Company constructed this facility in conjunction with the White Rapids Hydroelectric Plant, located 2 1/2 miles downstream. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |