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KAMI'S FIRST ELECTRIC LIGHTS Stanley Brox Hanti, Utah Senior Citizen Division Second Place Personal Becollectlon The date-March 1?, 1901-has long teen remembered in our family because tiio events of importance occurred that nighti The lights went on In Manti for the first time, and the plant'B first operator--zay father, George Jacob Brox- had made previous arrangsients to have his seventh son, Gilbert, born on that very night of initial electrical operation! (Perhaps we should have taJten more seriously the significance of that historical night-and christened the newborn, "Kilowatt." Nevertheless, it can be said that our March l?th brother turned out to be a "powerhouse" of a musician, and a "bright light" in our lives.) The first plant was of a rather primitive hydro-electric design) with a Vestinghouse generator and a Pelton water wheel. Its original location was about one-half mile above the mouth of Manti Canyon. Some ten years later it was struck by lightning and burned to the ground, Father was instrumental in Its reconstruction at the same location inside the National Forest boundary, which was at one tine the site of the Brox Picnic grounds. Forest Ranger EH Cox selected the location and designed the convenient recreation area, but due to Government cutbacks on recreation funds the Brox Picnic grounds was eliminated in 19J&. It is of interest to note that the first Power plant was not municipally sponsored or owned. It was built as a private venture ty the enterprising pioneer industrialist, Stanley Crawford. Those first feeble electric impulses traveled over an antique transmission line up above the old gravel pit on the south canyon face, and down over the Tl" hill to the east. It reached the center of town on lines leading down First South. During bad wind storms, the lines would blow together, short-circuiting the power and disrupting the power service. It would be necessary for whoever was operating the plant, either Father or one of us boys, to shut the plant down and climb up over the hill and ledges until we found the trouble. Then we'd walk on to town to , ^ notify the city lineman. In a severe stona this wasn't a pleasant "" task. Father operated the original, the rebuilt, and the present installation for 31 years-from 1901 until 1932. -59- |
