Sign 12 - Power Plant

Located on the west bank of the South River, this massive structure generated electric power for the three munitions plants, support buildings, and the town of Belcoville, where plant workers lived.  It also supplied steam heat to the munitions plants via an overhead piping system.  The building had a steel frame, reinforced concrete walls, and an irregular footprint that measured 125 feet but 250 feet.  Two large metal stacks pierced the building's roof, and a raceway, still visible today, emptied along the structure's easternmost wall into the South River.

The plant was powered by coal.  In an aerial drawing made circa 1919, a pile of coal appears nearby with cinders that are scattered around the site.  Sited just north of the power plant is a 175-foot-deep artesian well, which provided fresh water for use in the plant.  The building was estimated to cost $775,000, but more than $1 million was spent by the time it was completed in the fall of 1918.