Electric Light Came to Fenelon Falls, 1894
Fenelon Falls was home to the best waterpower in the region, which had been harnessed since the village’s first days to power saw and grist mills. By the 1880s, coal gas street lights were beginning to serve larger centres like Lindsay—electric arc lights were then a marvel. In 1884, the "Greatest Show on Earth" came to Lindsay. Though the main attraction was Jumbo, billed as the world’s largest elephant, the Barnum and Bailey circus showed visitors arc lights powered by a generator. In 1893, many of the wonderful things that electricity could do, notably lighting, was famously demonstrated at the World Columbian Exhibition in Chicago.
Until 1890, the Estate of R.C. Smith, who had operated saw and grist mills, owned the Fenelon Falls water power. Since they were no longer milling on site, they leased this valuable right to neighbouring businesses. Findlay McDougall, John H. Brandon and Henry Austin leased ¼ of the water for their grist mill on the north side of the river (later Botany Spinners/Rosedale Furniture). They also took an interest in lighting the village, having the Victoria Electric Light Company install five street lights in 1894—near the Brooks Hotel (George Wilson), between the bridges, at the Mansion House (Cow and Sow), Dr. Wilson’s (Bond & Colborne) and the Methodist (United) Church. The new public service was immensely popular, leading to an expanded system with 30 more lights three years later.
After two fires at J.W. Howry & Sons sawmill on the south shore of the river in 1896 bankrupted the company, the Ontario Bank rebuilt the mill in 1897, perhaps largely to collect the insurance money. It soon closed, and the machinery was sold to outfit a mill at Victoria Harbour in 1898. This made 11/16 of the waterpower available. In July 1899, the Lindsay Light and Power Company began construction of a $75,000 generating station (now the Locker at the Falls) with an 11-foot steel flume, two Sampson turbines and a 400-kilowatt generator, producing three phrase current at 550 volts, which was stepped up to 11,000 volts for transmission to Lindsay.
In 1903, the Fenelon Falls Power Company sold out to the village, and seven years later Seymour Power bought out the Lindsay Power Plant, before becoming part of Ontario Hydro in 1916. For many years, Fenelon Falls was home to hydro-electric generating stations on either side commonly called the Fenelon power plant (north side) and the Lindsay power plant (south side). Though the first application of electric power was street lighting, over the course of the twentieth century, it went from being an expensive luxury residentially, to a necessary service that practically everyone took for granted.
