History
The river was impounded in 1863 on what is now Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. A tunnel was dug 1200 feet to convey water to the California Powder Works adjacent to the river three miles upstream of Santa Cruz. The powder works made gunpowder for California mining after normal supplies had been interrupted by the American Civil War. During dry weather, all flow was diverted through the tunnel and a system of flumes to provide water power for powder mill machinery. The powder mill was dismantled in 1914.
Read more about this topic: San Lorenzo River
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The custard is setting; meanwhile
I not only have my own history to worry about
But am forced to fret over insufficient details related to large
Unfinished concepts that can never bring themselves to the point
Of being, with or without my help, if any were forthcoming.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“We aspire to be something more than stupid and timid chattels, pretending to read history and our Bibles, but desecrating every house and every day we breathe in.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In front of these sinister facts, the first lesson of history is the good of evil. Good is a good doctor, but Bad is sometimes a better.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)