Dams

With the current interest in repairing or removing the dam, it is a good time to look back at the history of dams in Grand Ledge.

UPPER DAM

The first dam to span the river here in Grand Ledge was located just upstream from the bridge. In the spring of 1849 John Russell, his nephew David Taylor, and his brother-in-law Abram Smith, met in the Russell log cabin, west of town. The trio formed a company for the purpose of building a saw mill downtown and a dam to power it. They purchased 2 acres in the middle of the dense forest from Henry Trench, right below where the Opera House now stands. The parcel included a roofless, half finished shanty that the men completed. This was used as a bunk house for the men, about 30 of them, who were hired from Delta, Oneida and surround areas to do the work.

The dam was begun first. It was built of compacted stone, dirt and clay. Clay for the dam was dug from a pit in the 600 block of East Jefferson. A decade later, this clay pit would provide the material for the Loveless Pottery on Franklin Street. By August, the dam was completed.

The dam’s mill pond rose higher and flooded much of what we call JayCee Park today. This water provided power for a saw mill on the south bank and a flour mill on the northside. By 1910 the saw mill was gone, and the flour mill was torn down c1918. With the dam no longer needed, it was removed in the 1920s.

LOWER DAM

The Lower Dam or Stone Dam was begun in about 1878 by S. M.. Hewings, who owned the Seven Islands Resort downtown. He had a notion to have steamboats travel up and down The Grand for his resort. In order to get deeper water for his steamer, and for row boats he rented to the public, he built a temporary dam near the site of the present dam. This was crudely made of logs with stone fill. The top layers of the dam would be removed in the Spring to allow for the flow of ice.

In 1887 J.S. Mudge, the new owner of the Seven Islands Resort, replaced the temporary Hewings dam with a permanent Stone Dam. He also wanted to create a deep body of water for pleasure boating and swimming. Not only did this provide the water depth he wanted, but he also promoted this as the perfect fishing spot. Many anglers fished from the rocks near the shore or propped their boats right on the edge of the dam itself. The City acquired the dam when they purchased all the Resort property, including the seven river islands, in the 1930s.

A few decades after it was built, a large flat bank on the northside was dug up and replaced with the Dam Gates we see today. This allowed more control of the water level. These were originally covered by a Dam House to keep people off the gates. Sometime in the 1960s, The City wanted the House removed. My grandfather, Vic Haueter Sr, and his brother Mutt, who both owned property just above the dam, got the job of removal in exchange for keeping the building. I remember him telling me they used a tractor to pull the building up the bank. It is my suspicion that the Dam House was converted into a storage shed for my Uncle Mutt.