Lanesboro:Coming Full Circle in Service to the Community

The town of Lanesboro, Min-nesota, (population 858) wasfounded in 1868 by the Lanes-

boro Company of New York City, whichenvisioned building a resort in the sharpbluffs of southeastern Minnesota on thescenic Root River. The company builtLanesboro Power Dam above the townsite, creating a boating and fishing lake,and erected a fine hotel, the Phoenix.

The tourists did not come. Whatshowed up instead were three large flourmills, powered by water wheels turnedby the current in a canal branching awayfrom the dam. Those mills kept the townalive for the next 20 years until the com-pany sold all of its holdings and movedout. A new era began—one of agricul-ture, business, and commerce; an erathat required electric power.

In the early 1890s, a La Crosse, Wis-consin, company using the old flour millrestructured a 1,000-foot-long canal fromthe lake down to the lower Root River,and built the Lanesboro Electric PowerPlant on the canal. Beginning in 1895,two units generated 240 kW each for atown that had changed a lot in 27 years.

Two of the three flour mills had beendestroyed by fire, leaving little commer-cial demand for water power. At first,the Lanesboro power plant’s electricitypowered the town’s street lights. Elec-tric lights spread to stores, and by 1900spread to residences. A flax mill oper-ated for a few years.

But there was a problem: the powerplant was administered from the devel-oper’s offices in La Crosse, Wisconsin,and no one in Lanesboro appreciated anabsentee owner, particularly when theplant broke down. In 1903, the citizens ofthe village of Lanesboro in a special elec-tion approved the issuance of $6,000 inmunicipal bonds: $2,500 to buy the plantand water rights and $3,500 to makerepairs and improvements. The townremains the owner of the plant today.

In 1904, the first canning plantopened, powered by electricity from theLanesboro facility. The plant processedpeas, corn, string beans, and pumpkin,all from area farms. The produce wasshipped throughout the U.S. by railroad.Because of poor management andchanges in farming operations, the plant

closed about 1930.Donald Ward, 75, was born in

Lanesboro and retired there after acareer with the U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers. Beginning with his retire-ment in 1979, Ward and his wife ran anantique store downtown, and Wardbecame unofficial historian for the cityand surrounding area.

“What happened in the early years wasthat small industry just pushed the resortand tourist industry aside,” Ward said.

The Lanesboro hydro plant and twodiesel generators added in the 1920sremained sufficient for the city’s powerneeds for more than a decade. But, asWard observes, street and residentiallights were followed by toasters, refrig-erators, and stoves. “The demand gotbigger and bigger and it got to theplace where the power plant couldn’thandle it.” In 1925, a second hydrounit, featuring a 180-horsepower Fran-cis turbine with an 18-inch runner, wasadded to the plant.

But power demand continued. Be-cause the hydro plant was at its maxi-mum output, all new power demands inthe town were met by the local RuralElectrification Administration (REA)outlet, Tri-County Electric Co-op inRushford, Minnesota. During the 1940sand 1950s, the town’s power demandgrew rapidly, and all of it was met bynew purchases from Tri-County.

In 1967, operational problems forcedUnit 2 at the hydro plant to be taken outof service. A decade later, the reservoirbehind Lanesboro Power Dam wasdrawn down for TKDA, Inc., of St.Paul, Minnesota, to make structuralrepairs. With Unit 1 off line anyway, thecity decided to rehabilitate the unit,which was experiencing oil leakagefrom the bearing lubrication system.

By the early 1990s, Lanesboro hydrowas adding only a few hundred meg-awatt-hours each year to the town’s grid.

“It (Lanesboro hydro) is primarilyused as a peaking plant, usually duringthe winter,” said Bruce Meistad, generalmanager of Tri-County. “When we needit, we’ll send them a signal at their pow-erhouse and they’ll operate for three orfour hours.”

Jim Peterson, Lanesboro hydro’s operator, said the plant generates asoften as it can, but the Minnesota De-partment of Natural Resources limitsthe volume of water it can take fromthe Root River. In 1994, for example,the plant was able to operate about 125 days, generating a total of 240

This photograph (circa 1920) shows construction under way on the outlet flume at the Lanes-boro, Minnesota, hydro plant. A second turbine-generator added at this time doubled capacityto 480 kW to meet rapidly increasing electrical demand.

From Hydro Review, October 1995 - © HCI Publications, www.hcipub.comReproduced with permission

megawatt-hours of electricity.The fact that the power plant now

plays a back-up role does not mean it is ignored, and there is irony in whatis now happening. Lanesboro in thelast decade has become a boomingtourist town—125 years later than ex-

Reference:Gulliver, John S., Loyal Gake, and

Richard Renaud, “Feasibility ofHydropower Rehabilitation at theLanesboro Dam,” Prepared for Stateof Minnesota Department of NaturalResources, University of MinnesotaSt. Anthony Falls Hydraulic Labora-tory, December 1982.

2 HYDRO REVIEW / OCTOBER 1995

pected. Ward said four major celebra-tions, one per season, each pull 5,000people into town for a weekend. It istypical for 1,000 people to crowd thedowntown shops and restaurants onregular weekends.

And a century after its first role as an important contributorin the town’s economicgrowth, the LanesboroElectric Power Plant nowhelps attract the tourists.The plant is on the National Register of His-toric Places and, moreimportantly, a part of theLanesboro Historical Dis-trict, an area of restoredshops, office buildings,and residences.

While still doing itsbasic job of generatingpower, the plant alsoevokes for tourists andresidents alike a memoryof Lanesboro in its earli-est days. As the Lanes-boro Village Councilstated in 1917 in Weekly,“Developing our waterpower, which is our bigasset, to its full capacitywill be the one big factorin old Lanesboro’s wel-fare and its future devel-opment.” How right theywere!

General InformationLocation: In Lanesboro, Minnesota, on

the South Branch of the Root RiverOwner: City of Lanesboro, MinnesotaCapacity: 240 kWHead: 26 feetExpected Annual Generation: 249.6

megawatt-hoursOn-Line Date: 1895Cost: Plant purchased by city of Lanes-

boro in 1903 for $2,500

EquipmentTurbine (1 unit in service)Leffel turbineNon-adjustable impeller300 rpm160 horsepowerGenerator (1 unit in service)Westinghouse3 phase; 60 Hertz; 2400 voltsGovernorWoodward Mechanical Governor

ConstructionDamBuilt of massive rockConcrete apron protects bottom of

structureProtective covering of 2 feet of con-

crete190 feet long22 feet highReservoir2.6 million cubic feet of reserve in stor-

age areaIntake6-inch-diameter steel pipePowerhouseTwo-story brick building80 feet long; 40 feet wideDraft tubesConcrete pipe 6 feet in diameter

Transmission2,400 volt Delta system connecting tocity of Lanesboro grid

The Power of LanesboroThe semi-circular Lanesboro Power Dam is 190 feet long and 22 feet high. The structure isbuilt of massive rocks and has a thick concrete apron protecting the bottom and a 2-foot con-crete covering protecting the top.

Though the century-old Lanesboro, Minnesota, hydro plant nowproduces only a small fraction of the town’s electrical needs, itis a proud reminder of the enormous role early hydro plantsplayed in the area’s development. The plant is on the NationalRegister of Historic Places and a part of the Lanesboro HistoricDistrict. The plant still is fully functional and operates whenwater supplies are sufficient.

Technical Information

Lanesboro ElectricPower Plant