Public Service Commission Power Plant at Conquerall Mills

I've passed by the former Public Service Commission Power Plant in Conquerall Mills, Nova Scotia thousands of times in my life. For nearly twenty years, I drove by 'the power dam' daily. Over those twenty years, the only thing to change at the dam was the 'For Sale' sign. It has been privately owned for decades and was rumoured to be on and off the real estate market at various times throughout.

The former hydroelectric power plant is situated on the Petite Riviere, or Petite River, at Conquerall Mills. It was the only dam built on the Petite Riviere explicitly for power generation. Operations ceased in 1971. In 1974, the Town of Bridgewater abandoned the dam. The dam was breached in 1977.

I visited and photographed the exterior of the power plant in January 2007 and again in June 2010. In that short span, only the boards covering the windows had changed. The area grows in considerably in the summer months.

Between visits to the power plant I was given a few historical photos of the dam. The photos were courtesy of my father who was scanning a collection of family photos. Among the scans were several newspaper clippings and two very grey photographs. The photographs show the power plant on the day it became operational some time around 1940.

1. Public Service Commission Power Plant on the day it became operational.

2. A second photo from the same day. To the left is my great-grandfather's 1939 Packard.

3. Newspaper clipping, October 18, 1961.

4. Photo from 1961 newspaper.

5. January 2007. To the right is my old 1989 Toyota.

7. June 2010.


8. June 2010.


9. June 2010 - Lumber stored inside the power plant.


10. June 2010 - Looking up inside the power plant.