Bodie's Green Creek Power Plant & the shock of a lifetime

Ghost Town Bodie California CA Mono County Green Creek Power Plant Standard Consolidated Mill abandoned ruins

Bodie’s Standard Consolidated Mill developed a revolutionary plan to power their facilities and decrease operating costs: build a power plant on Green Creek. In 1893, the Bodie’s mill became the first in the United States to operate on A/C power transmitted over such a distance.
Some of the workers at Green Creek enjoy pulling pranks on their co-workers. One of their hijinks was ill-fated and caused the shock of a lifetime.

Ghost Town Bodie California CA Mono County Green Creek Power Plant Standard Consolidated Mill abandoned ruins historic photograph — Green Creek Power Plant
(Photo credit: Eastern Sierra Land Trust)

Powering Bodie

Bodie’s mills had an insatiable need for lumber. Wood was expensive to transport and Bodie faced many “wood famines.” The Standard Consolidated Mill spent $22,000 yearly for wood and looked for alternatives to power their equipment.

In 1892, Superintendent Thomas H. Leggett convinced James Cain to look at an alternative power source, hydropower.

Green Creek Power Plant

With no reliable water source nearby, they turned their eyes to Green Creek, twelve and a half miles from Bodie. At the base of the Sierra, the creek ran year-round with 400 inches of water during the dry season and ten times more during other months.

Construction on the power plant occurred between August and October of 1892, including digging ditches, penstock, gates for the water, and constructing the power plant. Workers build a dam to regulate and store water, creating Dynamo Pond above the power plant.

Dynamo Pond
(Photo credit: Mono County Historical Society at Eastern Sierra Land Trust)

The company repurposed many materials from the Bulwer-Standard mill. In November, they set in place a generator and four Pelton wheels from San Francisco.

Power lines to Bodie mainly ran in a straight line. A common misconception is that people believed power could not make turns during transmission. This is likely based on Ella Cain’s The Story of Bodie, in which Cain wrote that the lines had to be “absolutely straight, no angles, no curves, which might cause the power to jump off into space.”

Period professional papers indicate engineers were aware this was not a concern. However, constructing power lines in as straight a line as possible saved money on labor and supply costs.

The Standard Consolidated Mill expected the Green Creek power plant to be complete on December 1, 1982, but the operations were delayed until 1893.

The Standard Consolidated Mill became the first stamp mill in the country to operate on A/C at such a distance from the plant. The power station at Green Creek generated 3500 volts, which reached the mill at 3000 volts; a Tesla transformer reduced it to 440 volts.

The Standard Consolidated Mill had a large event to celebrate the electrification of the mill. After everyone gathered, the switch was thrown. Nothing happened. The laughter started over what disbelievers had nicknamed “Leggetts Folley.” Their laughter ended quickly as the lights started flickering and then shone brightly.

A shocking situation

In Mining Camp Days, Emil Billeb writes about a prank gone wrong at Green Creek. A foreman and workers from the Standard Mill traveled to Green Creek to make repairs on the power plant. Several decided to prank their co-workers. They placed nails around the outside of the toilet seat and then wired the nails to the light switch.

Unfortunately, the foreman headed to the outhouse before their fellow workers needed to use the facilities. He was a large man who wore a derby hat to warn him of low-hanging obstacles. The foreman settled in with his Montgomery Ward catalog, flipped on the light switch, and had the shock of a lifetime. He came stumbling out the door with his hat crushed around his eyes. Luckily for the workers, he never figured out who was involved in the prank.