Industrial History: Falls, Dam, 2.6mw Power House, Mill and Bridges on North Branch Muskoka River in Bracebridge, ON

Monday, May 11, 2026

Falls, Dam, 2.6mw Power House, Mill and Bridges on North Branch Muskoka River in Bracebridge, ON

Falls: (Satellite)

Railroad Bridge: (Satellite)

Road Bridge: (Satellite)

Dam: (Satellite)

Power House: (Satellite, this is the intake control structure. This is the power house.)

Mill: (Satellite?)

It looks like they maintain their truss bridge.

Facebook Reel

Some docks and walkways are under water, but a good power wash should restore them.

Same Reel

John de Freitas, Jul 2024

LakelandGeneration

LakelandGeneration_history
"In 1894, the Town of Bracebridge established itself as the first municipality in Canada to own and operate a water-power electrical generating station." This was called Bird's Mill and produced 84kw.
"A second turbine was added that pumped water up a main street watermain."
In 1902, a 300kw unit was installed, and second 300kw unit was installed in 1905.

The 600kw station had a head of 10m (33'). "In 2012 the facility completed a series of upgrades, which have expanded the facility’s capacity to 2.6 MW. Upgrades to the facility involved modifications to the existing powerhouse, turbine and generator replacement, installation of a new penstock, electrical system upgrades and deepening of both the intake and tailrace channels.With significant technology advances in the past century, the renovated facility now boasts one (1) Norcan S-Type Hydraulic Turbine as well as one (1) SAB Horizon Brushless Synchronous Generator, which are controlled by a Rockwell Automation ControlLogix system." [OntarioRiversAlliance]

nacsworld
The 2012 upgrade replaced all of the power generation equipment without damaging the existing buildings, "all while working in close proximity to a pristine water environment with stringent environmental protection measures and fish habitat protection." The flow was increased from 10m3 to 27m3 (353cfs to 953cfs).