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It didn't always look like this!! It all began when some French Ex-soldiers
from the Crimean War were surveying the former Artemesia Township
and discovered the waterfall. They suggested it be called “Eugenia” after
Princess Eugenia, the wife of Napoleon 111. Shortly after this, in 1852,
an early settler discovered a glint of gold in the rocks under the water
and a gold rush began. Two hundred men arrived to stake their claims.
They cut steps down the east side of the falls to make it easier to transport
the rocks up and down the escarpment. Dreams were dashed,
however, when the rocks turned out to be pyrite also known as fools gold.
The area below the falls was then known as Cuckoo Valley.
Some of the settlers remained and the town
soon hosted five mills and a small private
electric plant. In 1895 a generating plant was built, the ruins of which can still be seen
from the lookout. Then in 1905, The
Georgian Bay Power Company built
the second hydroelectric plant. They
planed to build a massive tunnel across the Beaver River to house turbines.
The project proved to be too expensive and the company went bankrupt.
The project was abandoned before any of the turbines were installed.
The tunnel had to be blown up as a safety measure, and all that remains
is an arch at the eastern end of the tunnel.
The Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario purchased the property
and built a new plant in 1913. They then negotiated with the farmers for their
land. They were able to buy 1,900 acres that included farms, stone houses
and some forest. Owners could move their homes if they wanted to but no
more trees
could be cut. An engineer then placed a different color of dye in every body
of water in the area, and men worked in shifts to monitor where the water
came from and where it went or sank into the ground. After all the information
was compiled, the go ahead was given. In 1915, they moved the plant to the
North and flooded the area, which created Lake Eugenia and also gave them
more control over water levels. Development has continued since then,
and today there is a reservoir to insure power can be produced year round.
Ontario Hydro penstocks now descend down the escarpment just south of the Beaver Valley Ski Club and at the base is a generating station that creates six megawatts of power.
All this transformation occurred because of the hopes, dreams, and hard
work of many individuals and companies.
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