Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company

Porter, Barton and Company In 1805, "Porter, Barton & Company," which comprised Augustus Porter, Peter Porter, Benjamin Barton, and Joseph Anim, purchased the Niagara River and the American Falls from New York at a public auction. The purchase also included the water rights from above the upper rapids to below the Falls. The company portaged goods by land from Lake Erie to Lewiston on the Niagara River, then shipped them east on Lake Ontario. When the Erie Canal opened in 1825, it made the portage obsolete and plans to develop Niagara Falls suffered. Augustus proposed a hydraulic mill canal in 1847 and offered the right of way for the canal to any person ready to build it, but the Porter brothers died before interest in the project led to construction. ==Company history==

Niagara Falls Hydraulic Company In 1852, Caleb Smith Woodhull and his associates purchased the land and the water rights from the heirs of the Porter brothers with the intention to build a canal, and in 1853 formed the "Niagara Falls Hydraulic Company." A grant was obtained from the owners of a strip of land 100 ft. wide extending from a point above the upper rapids to the high bank below the Falls. because construction costs of the canal significantly exceeded estimates and the company went bankrupt. Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company In 1877, as the company had only attracted one client, it declared bankruptcy and was auctioned off. The company interests were bought for $71,000 () by Jacob F. Schoellkopf, who in 1878 formed the "Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company" to use the canal. After the transfer of the property, Schoellkopf finished the excavating, but the canal remained idle for a few years. The work on the power plant began and the canal was enlarged in 1892. By 1896, power plant number two had been completed and was supplying power to different factories above Niagara Falls. In 1898 the company built the Niagara Junction Railway to encourage industrial expansion in the area. Hydraulic Power Company of Niagara Falls In 1907, the New York Public Service Commission law was passed which regulated the rights of non-electrical corporations from engaging in the development of electric energy and distribution of it. Therefore, the hydraulic business of "Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company" became the "Hydraulic Power Company of Niagara Falls" and "Cliff Electrical Distributing Company" was formed to distribute the power. As of 1914, the main consumers of power from the "Hydraulic Power Company" were: • Aluminum Company of America – about 70,000 horsepower • Cliff Electrical Distributing Company – about 30,000–40,000 horsepower Both the Aluminum Company of America and "Cliff Electrical Distributing Company" owned their electrical generators and electrical apparatus and the transmission machinery (the transmission lines which carry the power from the generators to the place where they use it) and the "Hydraulic Power Company" owned everything else. In 1914, the directors of "Cliff Electrical Distributing Company" were: Peter P. Pfohl, Paul A. Schoellkopf, John Olmstead, C. P. Hugo Schoellkopf, and Jacob F. Schoellkopf Jr. The officers were: Peter P. Pfohl, president; Paul A. Schoellkopf, secretary and treasurer; and C. P. Hugo Schoellkopf, vice president. ==Competitors==

Niagara River Hydraulic Tunnel, Power, and Sewer Company Schoellkopf's success in developing millsites led Charles B. Gaskill, of "Cataract City Milling Company", the canal's first customer in 1875, to believe that there would be a growing demand for power. Therefore, in 1886, Gaskill formed the "Niagara River Hydraulic Tunnel, Power, and Sewer Company" to meet the demand. His company hired engineer, Thomas Evershed, to create a plan to develop power.) to carry out the new plan. Edward Dean Adams, as president of the "Cataract Construction Company," directed plans to construct a central generating plant and to solve the problem of transmitting electricity over long distances. after the commission failed to award a winner, Lord Kelvin and the commission asked George Westinghouse to use alternating current to develop electricity at Niagara Falls. The construction lasted for several years and was funded by an interest composed of notable businessmen including: J. P. Morgan, John Jacob Astor IV, Lord Rothschild, and W. K. Vanderbilt. The Edward Dean Adams Power Plant, designed by McKim, Mead, and White, first produced power on August 26, 1895, and in November 1896, power generated from Niagara Falls reached Buffalo. The first 1,000 horsepower of electricity transmitted to Buffalo was claimed by the street railway company, with the local power company putting in orders for 5,000 more. Similar to the "Hydraulic Power Company of Niagara Falls" arrangement with the "Cliff Electrical Distributing Company," the "Niagara Falls Power Company" sold power to the International Railway Company (w.streetcars in Buffalo & Niagara Falls city) which obtained the right to install its rotary converters in the Niagara Power Company's generating station, but paid nothing additional (i.e. rent) for the installation. ==Consolidation==

In 1918, the "Cliff Electrical Distributing Company," the "Hydraulic Power Company of Niagara Falls," and the "Niagara Falls Power Company" merged due to government pressure for more efficient use of the Niagara River's water provided by the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1910. The consolidated company retained the name "Niagara Falls Power Company" and issued $26,000,000 () capital stock, common and preferred. which was acquired by National Grid plc in 2002 for $3 billion (). ==See also==