Old Rush's Mill
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Dams change owners and frequently change names. Old Rush's Mill has been known as Valley Star Flour Mill, Triplett Dam and Burnshire Dam.
"[Old Rush's Mill] was purchased by J. I. Triplett in 1873. Under his guidance, the waterwheel would be replaced by turbines, the milling service supplanted by the more profitable production of electricity, and the eight-foot wooden dam would be submerged in the millpond of a taller, stronger concrete wall." In addition to supplying electricity through hydroelectric power, Old Rush's Mill also supplemented with diesel generators.
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 Photo courtesy of Richard Burnshire. Click to enlarge. |
"Triplett installed diesel generators for auxiliary power. His plant was one of the earliest diesel power plants in the Valley." |
 Photo courtesy of Richard Burnshire (1936). Click to enlarge. |
One of the many problems of relying on a river as a power source are the unpredictable floods and the damage they cause.
"The high water in the Shenandoah river washed away about 30 feet of the dam at the electric plant, at the Rush mill, which furnishes light for this place. The town was without light for three nights on account of the high water." Major floods: 1924, the original powerhouse washed away, 1936, the river cut a new channel around the current powerhouse -pictured left, 1955, the dam was evident only as a small ripple in the flooded river -pictured below.
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In 1954, Virginia Electric and Power Company (VEPCO) bought what is now called Burnshire Dam, and within a few years, shut it down. Not until 1979 would another person would attempt to generate electricity from the site.
"[Britt] Gilbert has brought the small generating station out of a 26-year retirement, idle time measured in packed mud and rusted iron. Thus a new chapter is added to the structure's long history of harnessing the North Fork of the Shenandoah River." |
 Photo courtesy of Shenandoah Free Press (1955). Click to enlarge. |
