Cooke Hydroelectric Plant, Cook Dam Road at Au Sable River, Oscoda, Iosco County, MI

Significance: It was the beginning of an interconnected power system throughout that state's Lower Peninsula. When Cooke went on line in 1912, the plant produced electrical energy that was used 125 miles to the south, in the growing industrial city of Flint. This marked the greatest distance commercial electrical power had traveled in the state. An even more remarkable achievement was the voltage of Cooke's transmission: its 140,000-volt pressure surpassed that of any other in the world.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N1564
Survey number: HAER MI-98
Building/structure dates: 1909-1911 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 96000803