The great dams of the Muskegon River

The Muskegon River, which winds across the middle of Newaygo County, once floated millions of logs down to the sawmills. When the timber ran out, the river found a second life: making electricity. Two historic dams here, built by the company that became Consumers Energy, still hum along more than a century later.

The older one is Croton Dam, finished in 1907 a few miles east of Newaygo. It was a marvel of its day. To carry its power the forty-some miles south to Grand Rapids, the builders strung up a transmission line at the highest voltage anyone was using anywhere at the time, and it drew so much attention that engineers traveled from as far away as Russia and Japan to see how it was done. Croton still quietly makes power today.

A few miles upstream stands the giant of the pair: Hardy Dam, completed in 1931. Built of packed earth rather than concrete, it was the largest earthen dam east of the Mississippi when it was finished, and a narrow road runs right across its top. The water it holds back forms Hardy Dam Pond, a long, deep reservoir with more than fifty miles of mostly wild, undeveloped shoreline. Today the pond and the woods around it are laced with trails, beaches, and parks, drawing boaters, anglers, and hikers all summer long.