Highgrove (Riverside) California

Visalia and Santa Barbara celebrated with great fanfare over their new arc lights atop huge poles to radiate the single source light, but at the same time a private individual, Charles R. Lloyd, was negotiating with the Riverside Water Company to lease the "energy" from a 50 foot fall in the canal in Highgrove for $250 per month.

Lloyd had no company behind him, so he hired Riverside Water Company engineer, Gustavus Olivio Newman to build the Highgrove plant for him. The first payment was made in October 1887.This became the first hydroelectric plant in California, and the San Bernardino Electric Company was eventually formed.

In 1888 Lloyd also built a small hydro plant on Warm Creek where it crossed Mill Street in San Bernardino. The water supply proved inadequate so the plant was converted to steam generation. These two plants were connected to provide power.

Nikola Tesla, having gone to work for Westinghouse after a fallout with Edison, is largely credite with developing the single-phase alternating current system. A.C. generators could increase the voltage so the power could be transmitted easily over great distances. These alternating generators replaced the DC generators in Highgrove, Santa Barbara and Visalia.

Location

The original Highgrove Plant was operated until it was destroyed by fire in 1915. Its foundations are still at Iowa Avenue in Highgrove. It is surrounded by the eucalyptus trees planted by Newman. The original building had three water wheels and three direct current dynamos in a square wooden building with a cupola on top. Enough electricity was generated for 15 arc lights in each city of Riverside and Colton.