| North Star Mine Powerhouse | |
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| California Historical Landmark #843 | |
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| Location: | Mining and Pelton Wheel Museum South end of Mill Street at Allison Ranch Road |
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| Built/Founded: | 1895 |
| Architect: | Arthur De Wint Foote |
| Architectural style(s): | Pelton wheel |
| Governing body: | City of Grass Valley |
The North Star Mine Powerhouse is located at the North Star Mine in Grass Valley, California, USA. When the mining operations expanded subsequent to the California Gold Rush, the powerhouse was added. In 1895, it became the site of the largest tangential water wheel in the world.[1] Situated by Wolf Creek, a mile west of the Empire Mine, the powerhouse is a designated California Historical Landmark, and has been turned into the North Star Mine and Powerhouse & Pelton Wheel Museum.
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In 1878, Lester Pelton of Camptonville brought a strange machine to the Miners Foundry in nearby Nevada City. The Pelton wheel, about the size of a car tire and referred to as "Wheel One", was put on display for mine owners. It used cups on a wheel to draw water and harness power.[1] Running out of trees to burn, the North Star decided to switch to hydraulic power, and Arthur De Wint Foote designed the 30-foot (9.1 m) wheel which drove four new compressors that delivered 90 pounds (41 kg) of air pressure for 2,000 feet (610 m) to the mine's central shaft.[1] For his ingenuity, Foote was made the North Star's superintendent.
The powerhouse is now a museum. The New Verde Mining Company donated an acre of land and the remains of the old power house. The wheel was saved from the scrap heap by a Grass Valley resident who raised $2,000 to purchase the wheel and donated it to the Historical Society.[2]
The plaque's inscription reads:
NORTH STAR MINE POWERHOUSE
The North Star Powerhouse, built by A. D. Foote in 1895, was the first complete plant of its kind. Compressed air, generated by Pelton water wheels, furnished power for the entire mine operation. The 30-foot Pelton wheel was the largest in the world, and was in continuous use for over 30 years.
Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the Nevada County Historical Society 15 May 1971.[3]
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