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Dams and Electrification
When the twentieth century arrived, the Huron River was still needed as the great source of power that it had been in the 19th century, yet the power that was generated could now be transported to the rest of the city. This development meant two things: first, that the earlier river-dependent industries were free of geographical constraints and second, that the riverfront could be used for recreation and pleasure. In 1905, Eastern Michigan Edison Company (later, Detroit Edison) devised a plan to construct six more dams and power plants along the Huron River to generate electricity. In a perceptible combination of "clean and green", the company announced a grand plan to build beautiful houses around the holding ponds. Unfortunately, for economic reasons, only the Barton Hills neighborhood is developed in this manner.
The following excerpt describes the plan: "The Edison Company, led by their president, Alexander Dow, a friend of Williams, had a grandiose scheme for the Huron River which runs southeast through the lower portion of Michigan, emptying into Lake Erie. Hydroelectric dams and power plants would create lakes and electricity. Dow and The Edison Company envisioned beautiful communities along the manmade lakes, brilliantly lit by electricity. He felt that there would be a great demand for suburban living. Because of the newly enfranchised automobile sites along the river would be within commuting distance of Detroit. "Along the banks of Barton Pond, Detroit Edison began its first suburb community, Barton Hills. Dow built his home, 'Shadowwood,' there and hired the most famous landscape architecture firm in the US, the Olmsted Brothers of Boston, to do the planning. While Barton Hills is still a prestigious community today, Edison's other lakeside villa communities did not materialize. The Great Depression came along and the economics of hydroelectric power changed. "In the end the Huron River water powers were not completed as planned. Barton was built in 1912, Argo rebuilt in 1913, Geddes 1916, Superior in 1919, Rawsonville (owned by Henry Ford) in 1927, and French Landing Dam in Belleville in 1925. Williams completed designs for the two western most sites in Delhi and Dexter but they were not built. The Depression had slowed down dam and hydroelectric construction." From: "Michigan Hydroelectric Sites Designed by Garner Stuart Williams" By Adrienne Malley of Ayres, Lewis, Norris & May, Inc., Nov. 7, 1980.
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