A 20-man cart.	30-foot Pelton Water Wheel.	Miner using air-powered drill.

      The North Star Mine was one of the richest mines in the state with a total production of $33,267,734. The North Star Mine Power House in Grass Valley used steam, generated by wood-fired engines. Surrounding forests were destroyed to provide firewood for the steam boilers. In later years, wood was shipped in from Washington and Oregon to feed the boilers.
      Lester Pelton, a resident in the Grass Valley area, invented a water wheel that revolutionized the use of water for power. He found that buckets split down the middle into two half-cups were far more efficient than previously used water-wheel buckets.
      A. D. Foote, an engineer, brought to Grass Valley to develop electrical power for the mine, instead decided compressed air would be safer and more efficient. It was A. D. Foote, who constructed the 30-foot water wheel in order to provide compressed air to run equipment at the North Star's central shaft. It was the biggest Pelton Wheel in the world, developing 1,000 horsepower at 65 revolutions a minute, its buckets traveling at 72 miles an hour.

The Presenter:
Allen Davies, Docent, North Star Mine Powerhouse

Click to listen to a short
review.