Local History The story of our town, from birth through development.

Milestones A collection of "milestones", recollections and details about particular topics significant in Mission's history.

Timeline A listing of events in Mission's History

Stave Falls

The Stave Falls Dam and powerhouse are nestled in a mountainous valley north of the mighty Fraser river, near Mission. The dam is part of the Stave Falls-Alouette-Ruskin generating complex.

In the 1890's the 24m (84 ft.) drop to the lower Stave River at the falls was seen to be a potential source of water power. Permission to exploit this source was granted in 1895 to the Stave Lake Electric and Power Co. Ltd., through an act of provincial legislation, for the purpose of generating electricity to use either for electric lighting, motive power or other work. Then in 1900 Stave Lake Power Co. (est. 1899) obtained the right to generate power from the Stave River and its tributaries by grand order of council. Although Stave Lake Power Co. had a different name than its predecessor the Stave Lake Electric and Power Co., it's widely believed that they were one and the same company.

Construction of a logging road and a concrete log sluice by the Stave Lake Power Company began in 1901. In 1909 assets were taken over by the Western Power Co. and they immediately applied to use Stave Lake to store water. Before approval could be given the Dominion and the Provincial governments had to settle a court battle to see who had authority to grant water rights on the Dominion Railway belt.

Work began on the first phase in 1909-10, with the work consisting of building a dam with a sufficient height to create a 100 ft. head of water. The powerhouse had to be able to house two power units consisting of 13,000 horsepower 7,500 kw generators. The power plant and sites for the switchboard, transformers, transmission lines, facilities and distribution network had to be chosen carefully to maximize power generation and to minimize construction costs. The complex systems including the reservoirs, dams, powerhouse and transmission facilities required for hydroelectric development required considerable financial commitment.

Also in 1909 a wagon road was built from Ruskin. In order to move supplies the wagon road was turned into a railway connected to the CPR mainline. To this day it holds the title of the world's shortest railway.

By the end of 1911 a contract was secured to supply power to Vancouver, New Westminister, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, Mission and Bellingham, Washington. Power sales in 1911-12 were brisk. Smaller customers were supplied with their own transformers on site, while the bigger customers had to maintain an electrician and manage the electrical power supply at its delivery point.

The first phase began producing power on Jan. 1, 1912 with transmission lines going west of Stave Falls to a receiving station at Ardley (between New Westminister and Vancouver) and south to Sumas, Washington. The steel towers of the transmission line had to be placed with great ingenuity and special care had to be taken to make sure the wires were of sufficient height and distance to permit water navigation of the Pitt River. They were the first to be used on the west coast, north of San Francisco.

In 1913 a contract with British Columbia Electric Railway (B.C.E.R.) to provide power over a period of twenty years was signed. Also in 1913 there were contracts to improve the dams and extend the plant to make room for the installation of two new turbine generator units. Unfortunately the demand for power dropped (also in 1913) with the beginning of a economic depression and the second phase of construction ground to a halt when the war in Europe lead to more economic uncertainty. They were still committed to the contract with B.C.E.R. when the company had trouble with money for phase two. The war also held up one of the two new turbines in Zurich, delaying its delivery until the end of the war. Labour problems meant that a third unit did not come on line until 1916.

Western Canada Power became Western Power Co. of Canada Ltd. in 1916. In 1921 B.C.E.R. gained control of Western Power and began to develop the combined water power at Stave Falls, Alouette Lake and Ruskin. B.C.E.R. already had the rights to the Alouette development including completion of the first phase and the extension of work begun by Western Power including a fourth turbine ordered in 1913 and installed in 1922.

B.C.E.R. also made improvements to the Blind Slough Dam site, it was their mandate to raise and improve the dams at Stave Falls. By diverting water from Alouette Lake through a tunnel to Stave Lake the amount of power that could be generated at Stave Falls was increased. Work on the Alouette tunnel was watched closely by B.C.E.R. employees who created a company sweepstakes for the date of breakthrough, the prize of $87.00 was won by Miss E.E. Farmer, a stenographer.

The additional flow from Alouette Lake allowed B.C.E.R. engineers to add a fifth unit at Stave, this unit however was not part of the original plan so the unit had to be squeezed into all available space. The intake for the new unit was inserted at the eastern end of the dam with the penstocks being installed over the existing penstocks on the western end of the dam where the extension for the fifth unit was built. Engineers described the intake design as challenging, with the excavation work for the powerhouse extension being very painstaking because it was being carried out within 25 ft. of a working generator.

To further increase efficiency the existing generators were rebuilt and their capacity increased. This meant that the present switching system at the powerhouse was obsolete and had to be rebuilt, but there was not enough room in the powerhouse for the required system. After considerable debate about where the equipment should go the final decision was to put it outside of the powerhouse.

In the fall of 1925 B.C. Premier John Oliver turned the golden key to start up the fifth generating unit. Stave Falls capacity was trebled and the plant was the single largest source of power for B.C.E.R. at the time.

The creation of Hayward Lake, with the building of the Ruskin Dam, completed the last phase of the development of the hydroelectric potential of the Stave River (until 1997).

Stave Falls Company Town

During construction various buildings were erected around the powerhouse site to house the workers and their families, this created the Stave Lake community. The structures included a freight shed, railway station, store, doctors office and a machine shop. An estimated that 400 men were employed in the construction of the railway and work at the falls. Stave Falls bore the mark of a company town: B.C.E.R employees were housed by the company; the company also provided recreational facilities that included a badminton court, tennis court, dance hall and a lawn bowling green. The company also employed a gardener and a carpenter to maintain the site.

The subsequent population of Stave Falls varied, depending on the amount of work being done in the construction and logging industries. The company town gradually declined in the 1950's, and ended with the creation of B.C. Hydro in 1964.


- A Mission Milestone - Written by Christopher Veltri