{"nrhp_refnum":"96000296","name":"Scobey Power Plant and Dam","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. of Scobey Hill Rd. and Cattaraugus Cr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Springville","county":"Erie County","state":"NY","lat":42.47894555100004,"lon":-78.6988653233586,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-09-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small hydroelectric complex on the east bank of Cattaraugus Creek near Springville, Erie County, New York, with a 1925 light-frame power house, a concrete ogee gravity dam, and remains of earlier plants and a timber dam. It sits on a 27-acre parcel at the end of Scobey Hill Road.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the complex is an intact, rare example of an early twentieth-century small hydroelectric plant in Western New York, where few streams had enough flow for water power. It is still in use and retains its original turbines and generators. It also helped bring electricity to rural Springville and spur local growth.","narrative":"Scobey Power Plant and Dam is a small hydroelectric facility on Cattaraugus Creek, just outside Springville in Erie County, New York. The present plant dates to 1925 and replaced earlier works from 1899 and 1924; the 1924 timber dam was destroyed by flash floods only days after opening. The utilitarian light-frame powerhouse is clad in glazed terra cotta shingles and holds two Leffel turbines in the basement and two General Electric 250-kilowatt generators on the ground floor. Beside it is a concrete ogee gravity dam with a 24-foot head, drainage gates, and wooden flash boards that adjust the water level by season to prevent ice from clogging the intakes. Remains of the 1899 plant and the wooden cribbing of the failed dam survive. The complex is valued as a rare, largely unaltered example of its type in a region with few suitable streams, and it still generates power for the village. Its builder was Brass Brothers of Niagara Falls.","period_of_significance":"1899 - 1925","architect_builder":"Original architect unknown; builder Brass Brothers, Niagara Falls, New York","architectural_style":"Other: Power Plant and Dam","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still operating as a power house with its historic machinery; it supplies about five percent of the village's electricity at full capacity.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:50.611604-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/96000296.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000296/448f2b4759-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000296/448f2b4759-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Shinerunner","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scobey_Power_Plant_and_Dam_1.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Shinerunner</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scobey_Power_Plant_and_Dam_1.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317701","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoby_Power_Plant_and_Dam","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7434230"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/erie-county/scobey-power-plant-and-dam-96000296/"}