Pelzer

Prior to 1894, Southern cotton mills power was produced by steam engines or turbines and drove machinery by a system of belts or ropes (hydraulics). Mills were built along rivers, where the river was dammed for water-power. In 1894 the mill of Columbia Mills in Columbia, SC was the first cotton mill to be driven by transmission of electricity. The Columbia Mills Hydroelectric Plant was designed and constructed by the General Electric Company. Shortly after electricity was installed in the Columbia Mills, the Pelzer Manufacturing Company contracted the General Electric Co. to design and construct a hydroelectric power plant similar to the Columbia Mills, build a transmission line and install electric motors in the existing mills and future Mill No. 4.

Before the hydroelectric plant was in operation in 1895, the three existing mills, No. 1, 2 & 3 were driven hydraulically. Mill No. 1 & 2 were driven by two water wheels located underneath Mill No. 1 and Mill No. 3 was driven by a 450 HP steam engine. There were an estimated 52,000 spindles in Mills No. 1, 2 & 3 before Mill No. 4 went into operation. Mill No. 4 was to be an estimated additional 68,000 spindles. Estimates from American Electrician, November, 1900.

The hydroelectric dam was built 2 1/5 miles downstream from Pelzer on the Saluda River. Three General Electric Co. 750 kilowatt, three-phase generators produced 3,300 volts in the powerhouse. In 1895, the hydroelectric plant was completed.

"Generator Room" Three GE 750 HP generators. From Electrical World, Saturday, March 14, 1896

"Switchboard" Inside the powerhouse showing the main switchboard. From Electrical World, Saturday, March 14, 1896

3,300 volts were fed directly to the 2 1/2 mile transmission line which had 18 00 gauge copper wires. Each pole had five crossarms, the top arm held two static wires, grounding lighting every third pole, the three middle crossarms carried the 18 wires, and the lower arm were 'pressure' and telephone wires. About 3/4th of the length to Mill No. 4, the line has a branch leading to Mill No. 3 with No. 4 B. & S. type wires. The transmission line also fed a substation providing the mill homes and town buildings with lights.

In Mill No. 3, the wires enter a small lightning arrestor tower and lead to nine GE 'air blast' transformers and two transformers reducing the current to 114 volts in the basement. Three of the six are a max of 265 kilowatts and six are a max of 275 kilowatts. The two small transformers are for the incandescent lighting in Mill No. 3. A single 400 HP motor was installed in Mill No. 3 which was more economical then Mill No. 3's old steam engine.

The mainline to Mill No. 4, designed by the Lockwood, Greene & Company, enters a lightning arrestor tower outside and leads to the mill's basement where transformers fed twenty-four GE motors and 1,200 incandescent lights. In the early 1900s, Mill No. 4 was a testing ground for new electric cotton mill machinery.

The following information below was gather from Electrical World, Saturday, March 14, 1896

As the town and mills grew, the demand for more power increased. In 1908, a 250 kilowatt generator was added to the Lower Dam powerhouse and in the 1930s, a 2000 kilowatt generator was added. Information from North Fork Electric Inc.

Completed in 1920 by the General Electric Co. for the Pelzer Manufacturing Company, the 1881 dam was converted to produce hydroelectric power. A short transmission line extended from the Upper Dam powerhouse to Mill No. 1's generator room. The dam provided Mills No. 1 & 2 with additional electricity and transmitted power to the mill homes and town.

Transmission line from the Upper Dam powerhouse leading to Mill No. 1's generator room. Photo by Bill Cunningham.

The Lower Dam transmission line had been in service over 100 years. From the Lower dam to the branch leading to Mill No. 3, the original 1895 poles had three, six wood pin crossarms with CD 245 insulators. The top and bottom crossarms were four wood pin crossarms, the top arm had two CD 245 for static wires and the bottom used glass signal style insulators.

Photo taken in 1896 of the Lower Hydroelectric Dam and outbound transmission line to Pelzer. From Electrical World, Saturday, March 14, 1896

Mill No. 3's branch from the mainline used No. 4 B & S type wires divided onto three, four wood pin crossarms. The arms held CD 245 insulators. Telephone lines were located on side pins attached below the crossarms. The power line wires were 00 gauge, copper type. A small line lead to a transformer house where the electricity was converted to lower voltage for distribution lines in the village. The transformer house was located near Mill No. 2.

Mill No. 4's line had three, five wood pin crossarms with CD 245 insulators. The wires were of 00 gauge, copper type. A transformer house is located near Square St. behind a two-story house. The transformers lowered the voltage for distribution to mill homes and other buildings.

An empty pole near the Pelzer EMS building with three, five steel pin crossarms.

The transmission line to Mill No. 4 powered a small transformer house which distributed electricity to the mill homes. Distribution wires exited the building through large clay pipes.

Throughout the years of use, poles, crossarms, insulators and other materials would become outdated or broken along the line. Early upgrades were replacing broken insulators, crossarms and poles. Some of the oldest poles in Pelzer have wood pin crossarms. In the post-1950s, modern Chance Line Material insulators were used as replacements, old wood pin crossarms were replaced with steel pin crossarms (there were several different styles of arms), and the two static wires on the top crossarm were replaced with a single aluminum wire and support bar. Old insulators like CD 245 were reused on new arms.

A tall pole near crossing the P & N railroad that was most likely installed around 1912. Photo by Mike Green.

In the 1980s, the transmission line was too outdated and the Pelzer Mills became dependent on electricity from the Duke Power Company (Duke Energy). The Upper and Lower Dams were sold by the Gerber Company to Enel North America in 1989. Linemen removed the valuable copper wires from the poles in the 1980s. For quick removal, some linemen smashed the insulators apart.

Over the neat 30 years, an insulator collector from Florida passed through Pelzer and discovered the poles in town loaded with CD 245. He claims that the line was checked out by a few different collectors but he was the first to act on removing the insulators when another friend offered $20 for each mint one. In his return to Pelzer, he found around 150 CD 245 and 80% of them were on the ground from the linemen removing the wires. Many of the insulators were badly damaged from removal as the linemen simply smashed the glass to remove the valuable wire. Past that time, various collects have found what they could on the ground and on poles. In 2001, another insulator collector 'rediscovered' the line and worked on removing the remaining CD 245 in town. About 50 insulators were saved. The CD 245 is an early high voltage style, known as rare in the hobby, and a mint example will fetch at most $100 (even more depending on the book pricing) but, the hobby is now flooded with CD 245 creating a wide range of value depending on what collectors will pay.

Images of the Transmission Line Today
*Junction Pole near the P & N Railroad*
	Photo by Dave Kingston.
A transmission line and distribution line junction pole. Very old glass arrestors are seen on the distribution crossarm along with modern cut-out switches. This pole is located behind a home on Courtney St. next to the P & N tracks.
*Last Pole remaining on the Upper Mill Site.*
Photo by Mike Green.




Today the former Upper Mill site is becoming overgrown and kudzu now climbs this pole. When the mills were still standing, insulator collectors remember seeing it filled with CD 245 but were unable to reach the pole due to the fence around Mill No. 4. A few years later the mint insulators were removed from the pole. Since the demolishing of Mill No. 4, the pole is in danger of removal by the clean-up crews.
*Poles near the Pelzer EMS Building*
Photo by Mike Herron.
Photo by Mike Green.
Photo by Mike Green.
Three poles stand beside the Pelzer EMS building and can be seen from Lebby Street (Hwy 8). Broken glass signal insulators are on the pole closest to Hwy 8. Two badly damaged CD 245 remain on a pole in the field. In the EMS parking lot, a pole was removed and the pole hole filled in.
*Short Poles on Lyman Street*


Photo by Mike Herron.	Photo by Mike Herron.


Two poles located on Lyman Street have CD 280, CD 287 and porcelain insulators. One of the two poles was leaning and ready to fall over into a fence. The property owner removed the pole in 2010.
*Poles near Square & Smythe Streets*





Poles on Smythe St and Square St have almost no insulators remaining. A pole on Smythe street held an old GE transformer and glass lightning arrestors. The transformer reduced voltage from distribution lines and provided electricity to mill homes. In 2010, the pole was removed by the property owner.
*Poles in the Woods near the P & N Tracks*


Many of the insulators on these poles have been shot but two Locke CD 287 are on a tall pole near the P & N tracks are in good condition.
*Poles near the Junction to Mill No. 3*

Near the junction to Mill No. 3 from the main transmission line to Mill No. 4, several poles have been removed. A very old pole has wood pin crossarms and a gain near the top of the pole for a static wire crossarm. This pole is located beside a home on Allen Street.
*Tall Poles Crossing the P & N Railroad*
	Photo by Mike Herron.
Photo by Dave Kingston.
Photo by Mike Green.
Tall poles carry the wires to Mill No. 3 over the P & N tracks. The taller of the two poles with wood pin crossarms dates around 1912 when the P & N was built.
*Poles in the woods between Pelzer & the Lower Dam*












All of the pictures above are of the mainline between the Lower Dam and Pelzer. Many of the poles in the wooded areas have fallen. Around the poles are shards of CD 245 and other insulators from when the copper wire was removed in the 80s.
*Poles near the Lower Dam*
Photo by Bill Cunningham.	Photo by Bill Cunningham.
The photos above were taken in the early 1980s while Kendall owned the mills. When Gerber bought the Pelzer Mills, the hydroelectric dams were sold to ENEL North America and the transmission line was abandoned.