Looking downstream towards pedestrian bridge (1893), Rainbow Bridge (1917), and L. Natoma Crossing (1999)

Last Saturday I mentioned I was looking forward to a Canal Walk organized by Folsom Lake SRA staff, exploring the history of the East Canal that connected the original Folsom Dam to the historic powerhouse. We had a beautiful morning for our excursion, and I did manage to learn a few things I had never known before. It had been quite awhile since I walked along this trail, but the views up and down this part of the American River are some of the best in the area!

Forebay

Debris screen detail

Walking canal wall near Greenback Lane

The East Canal was originally part of a plan — initiated in the 1860s by Horatio Gates Livermore — to harvest timber and operate a lumbermill near the current site of Folsom’s Rainbow Bridge. However, it took so long to construct both the dam and the 2.5-mile canal that before they were finished, technology had overtaken the scheme. Lumber for steam engines was on the way out, and electricity was on its way in! The elder Gates had passed on, leaving the business to his son, who was wise enough to shift the company’s focus to that of a hydroelectric project. It was one of the first in the nation to provide high-voltage current over long transmissions lines for municipal use.

I didn’t visit the powerhouse on this particular trip, but I do recommend checking it out if you are in the area. The image above and the black-and-white photos below are from a display in the Visitor’s Center, just off Greenback Lane and up the hill a short walk from the powerhouse location.

Convicts from Folsom Prison did most of the heavy labor building the granite dam and canal