Pine River Dam and Power Plant

The Pine River Dam and Power Plant was built in 1911 and provided power until 1946, when it was converted into a recreational area.

The village of Pine River was illuminated by candles and kerosene lamps as late as 1910. In 1908 a twenty-five-year franchise was granted to Albert Langenbach “to install and maintain an acetylene gas plant for the village,” but it was never acted upon, and the village streets remained dark at night.

In August of 1909, three promoters met to discuss building an electricity plant for Pine River: C. H. Smith of Duluth and B. E. Wideman and E. L. Forbes of Pine River. They developed a plan for placing the franchise matter before the village council at their next meeting. The men predicted that they would have the support of the residents in Pine River, who were tired of living in the dark.

An important part of the project involved putting in a dam in the brook at the side of Norway, permitting the use of launches directly from the village up the river and into Norway Lake. The water would be kept at a near-constant level and would lure fishermen and waterfowl alike.

A mass meeting of village residents was held September 25, 1909, to consider the application of the electric franchise that was before the village council. Pine River’s village council passed ordinance #34 on October 10, 1910, and granted permission to Hans and Thomas L. Arvig, to “establish and operate a power plant in the village.”

The village of Pine River chose local residents Charles E. Webber and Harry H. Hill to fund and manage construction of the dam, which was to be made of a combination of earth and concrete crossing Norway Brook. Webber and Hill designed the dam to have three openings: the flume to admit water to the wheel; an eight-foot sluiceway, and a four-foot-by-six-foot fishway.

The dam was completed in November of 1910. Work on the power house began the same month by the Arvig brothers. The generator began operating in late January 1911, and a few businesses were connected to electricity on Barclay Avenue, west of the plant.

The Arvig brothers incorporated their plant under the title of Pine River Electric Power and Light Company and extended service to Pequot Lakes and Hackensack. They operated the plant until June 13, 1926, when the business was sold to the Minnesota Hydro-Electric Company, which enlarged the generating plant in 1927.

Less than a year later, the plant and lines were resold. After two other sales, Minnesota Power and Light Company bought the plant and operated it for the next twelve years. (It generated power until the spring of 1946, when the generators were removed and electricity came via high-line.)

In August 1937, a Works Progress Administration (WPA) crew built a new steel-and-concrete, seventeen-foot diving tower that replaced the log tower built two years previously by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post #2617, of Pine River. It was dedicated in 1938.

As years passed, the dam continued to deteriorate and became obsolete. In the 1980s, the village of Pine River purchased it from Minnesota Power Company for one dollar. It renovated the dam, reservoir and the adjacent park.

The Norway Brook area flourished with fish and a variety of ducks, and cabins appeared on its shores. In cooperation with the Pine River Fish and Game Club, the Pine River Chamber of Commerce purchased a pair of mute swans, Freda and Stanley, and raised their young along Norway Brook in the late sixties and early seventies.

In the 2000s, the stretch of Norway Brook that runs between Highway 371 was made into a wildlife preserve. Every summer since then, events like duck races have been held in the park below the dam, drawing summer visitors to participate.

As of 2019, there are plans to take down the dam, replacing it with a rock-riffle dam and a functional fish ladder. The City of Pine River will be conducting informational meetings to gain public input on the dam prior to its installation.While a riffle dam would alter Norway Brook's current water flow, it would improve fishing and water quality upstream while reducing maintenance costs for the city of Pine River.