SHORELINES

7 Shor e l i n e S | 2014 Vol :3 At the end of the 19th century, Alabama was an agricultural state. Houses were lit by candles, kerosene or gas lamps and many folks went to bed when it got dark. A few industries and towns had dynamos that provided street lighting and limited electricity. Montgomery and Birmingham had electric streetcars. But a few Alabama dreamers had a vision of turning the state's rapids and shoals, which for decades had blocked riverboats, into sites for hydroelectric dams. On Dec. 4, 1906, Gadsden entrepreneur and steamboat Capt. William Patrick Lay founded the Alabama Power Company and began plans to build a dam near the site of Lock 12 on the Coosa River. Lay acquired congressional approval to build the dam, cleared the site and had plans and engineering studies made. But like others with similar dreams of developing the hydro potential of Alabama rivers, he could not find investment capital in the state, nor could he interest Wall Street in such a risk. In 1911, James Mitchell, a Massachusetts-raised engineer who spent 17 years bringing electricity to Brazil, came to Alabama to see a potential dam site at Cherokee Bluffs (now Martin Dam) on the Tallapoosa River. After visiting this site and other potential hydro sites in Alabama, Mitchell devised a bold plan. He would create a holding company, the Alabama Traction, Light & Power Company, acquire the undeveloped hydro sites on Alabama rivers, build them in a logical sequence, construct a transmission system to connect them all, and create a statewide electric power system that would later be expanded to surrounding states. Mitchell reduced this plan to a map and presented it, along with a prospectus, to Sperling & Company Ltd., a London investment firm with whom he was associated. Sperling approved his plan and provided the initial financing to put his plan into action. One of the companies Mitchell acquired was Lay's Alabama Power Company. On May 1, 1912, Lay transferred ownership of his company to Mitchell and his associates, saying, "I now commit to you the good name and destiny of Alabama Power Company. May it be developed for Left: Alabama Power Archives photo — William Patrick Lay, founder of Alabama Power Company, started making plans for Lay Dam in 1906. Above Left: James Mitchell, a Massachusetts-raised engineer, was instrumental in bringing hydroelectricity to Alabama. Above Right: Alabama Power Archives photo – A steam boat unloads cotton balies in Montgomery, circa 1890. From Water TO WATTS O N E H U N D R E D Y E A R S AT L AY D A M

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