Morony Hydroelectric Facility, Dam and Powerhouse, Morony Dam Road, Great Falls, Cascade County, MT

Significance: It is significant as a very-well preserved example of design concepts common to the era standardization in US history of hydroelectric development (ca. 1929-1930). Design concepts reflected by the plant include the integration of the dam, powerhouse, and water intake system into a single structure; the use of fewer but much larger turbine-generators then in previous eras; and the location of a plant's transformers and gantry crane outside of instead of inside the powerhouse. In addition to the main turbine-generator units, the exciters, governors, transformers, and other hydroelectric equipment at the plant were state-of-the-art technologies for the time. The Dam and Powerhouse also derives the significance as an outstanding refection of an industrial structure rendered in the Art Deco style.
Survey number: HAER MT-135-B
Building/structure dates: ca. 1929 Initial Construction