Historic American Engineering Record: Theodore Roosevelt Dam, Power Plant

Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. AZ-6A examines the origins, construction, use, and significance of the Theodore Roosevelt Dam Power Plant and Transformer House, located in south-central Arizona along the Salt River. The report contains a narrative description, drawings, maps, and historic photographs of the dam's power plant and transformer house.

As the key structure in one of the first major federally sponsored Reclamation projects in the West, Theodore Roosevelt Dam (Roosevelt Dam) has achieved both historical and engineering significance at a national level. At Roosevelt Dam, hydropower generating equipment can be traced from the pioneer stages of development up to the present. The power generating facilities at Roosevelt Dam, beginning with the 1906 temporary plant, were the first ever built by the Bureau of Reclamation. The Roosevelt Power Plant and Transformer House contribute to the significance of Roosevelt Dam for their role in Reclamation power development. They contribute to the history of the evolution and ever-expanding power system of the Salt River Project, now the second largest utility in Arizona. The Roosevelt Power Plant has been vital to the evolution and ever expanding power system of the Salt River Project and to the transformation of Phoenix from a small agricultural center to a booming metropolitan area.

As part of cultural resource recording to mitigate the effects of alterations to the dam, a series of HAER documents were authorized to document Theodore Roosevelt Dam and its component features. The Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) report on "Theodore Roosevelt Dam" prepared by Donald C. Jackson (HAER No. AZ-6) (see https://core.tdar.org/document/393143) detailed the design and construction history of the dam, as well as its technological significance. Another previously completed HAER study, entitled "The Roosevelt Power Canal and Diversion Dam" (HAER No. AZ-4) (see https://core.tdar.org/document/393118) by David Introcaso addressed the early development of power at Roosevelt Dam (see also HAER AZ-4A; https://core.tdar.org/document/393119). While information on the development of power at Roosevelt Dam is provided in HAER No. AZ-6 and AZ-4, those reports were not intended to include a complete description of the facilities.

The intent of this report is to utilize and build upon the previous work to complete Reclamation's HAER documentation responsibilities for the recent Roosevelt Dam modifications. The documentation here focuses exclusively on the history of power generation and power generation facilities at Theodore Roosevelt Dam.