The Old Powerhouse was built in 1899 by the Utica Gold Mining Company.
The Utica Gold Mining Company (U.G.M.C.) of Angels Camp was formed in the 1850s. By the early 1880s, the company consolidated the Angels Camp mines (the Madison, Gold Cliff, Stickles, and others). Its extensive holding of these mining operations, combined with its purchase of the Union Water Company, and its ore reserves, made it by far the most powerful entity in Calaveras County.
By 1895, the Utica Company needed to become more productive and competitive and decided to embrace hydroelectricity to operate its mines. The Old Utica Powerhouse was built in 1899 by the U.G.M.C. to provide electricity to the Utica and other mines in Angels Camp and Murphys. They built this three-story powerhouse on Angels Creek, constructed of rhyolite tuff blocks, 50 feet long, 39 feet wide, with walls three feet thick. When constructed, the powerhouse was located on the original Ebbets Pass Highway, now Utica Powerhouse Rd.
Power was produced by the combination of a huge Pelton wheel and Westinghouse generator. The water was fed from a forebay reservoir at the top of the hill that then ran through a penstock. The water was brought through ditch and flume from as far away as Lake Alpine at the top of the Ebbetts Pass. A second generator was added in 1902, and the powerhouse not only serviced the mines, but businesses and residences. It was decommissioned in 1952 and replaced by the new electrical plant downstream.
For 50 years the building sat abandoned and became vandalized. In 2003 the powerhouse was purchased and restored into a home by Grant Armstrong and Martin Huberty.
For further detailed information click on The Calaveras link below.
