BOHEMIA NUGGET 2016 3
Your guide to all things BMD!
Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Sponsors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
. 26
Vendors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Parades . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 & 24
Kids Events . . . . . . . . . 6, 8 & 11
Schedule of Events . . . . 14 & 15
Special Food Events . . . . . . . 4
Entertainers . . . . . . .7
. 7 & 20-22
“A. Nelson was granted
a 20-year franchise for
electric lights about
two months ago for the
towns of Cottage Grove
and Lemati. He has fi n-
ished his work and the
plant started up last
night. The light gives
satisfaction. The plant
will run until midnight
until further notice.”
— Eugene City Guard
Jan. 4, 1896
G OLD
Continued from page 1
Electricity Building and the Machinery
Building scrutinizing each machine,
talking to engineers and inventors,
and learning all he could to fuel his big
dream.
After spending the winter with his
Minnesota relatives, in 1894, Andy
returned to Cottage Grove. He most
likely went back to the Annie Mine to
earn the money he needed to buy the
equipment and supplies to generate
electricity for the still-small frontier
towns of Cottage Grove and Lemati.
His fi rst task was to speak with Mr.
Stone, the owner of the local fl our mill.
The fl our mill was a very important
place when white settlers began ar-
riving to establish farms in this fertile
river valley. They would bring wag-
onloads of sacked wheat to the mill in
exchange for a winter’s supply of fl our.
The mill also shipped many loads to
the Bohemia Mines to provide food for
the miners. Residents and local stores
were also customers of the mill’s
products.
The local history book, Golden Was
the Past, 1850-1970, notes the mill
was built in 1857. It faced South River
Road on a millrace, a side channel
diverting water from the river to cre-
ate a swift current of water to drive the
mill wheel. The millrace began above
the rapids by the Swinging Bridge near
where the Chambers Covered Railroad
Bridge is today. It was lined with fl ow-
ers and was one of Cottage Grove’s
beauty spots.
The millrace paralleled South River
Road to the mill pond that was held
back by gates. The water spilled
onto the big waterwheel that turned
the fl our mill’s machinery before it
dumped the water into Silk Creek and
back into the Coast Fork.
Today, the Old Mill Farm Store on
South River Road still stands next to
Silk Creek and across from the Dr.
Snapp House museum. It is the oldest
continuously operating business in
town. (You’ll see all these locations
when you hop on the BMD Express
Time Traveling Train and take a stroll
along River Road.)
The Nov. 9, 1895 issue of the Cottage
Grove-Lemati Leader reported “A.
Nelson is now busy pushing forward
the electric light business. He has a
building up adjoining Mr. Stone’s mill
in Cottage Grove, where he will secure
power for running the electric plant.
He expects 80 good sized trees in Sat-
urday, which he will place in Lemati
and Cottage Grove for general lighting
up.”
Two months later, the Jan. 4, 1896 is-
sue of the Eugene City Guard report-
ed, “A. Nelson was granted a 20-year
franchise for electric lights about two
months ago for the towns of Cottage
Grove and Lemati. He has fi nished
his work and the plant started up last
night. The light gives satisfaction. The
plant will run until midnight until
further notice.”
Andy Nelson’s granddaughter, Lar-
sana Nelson, wrote the Golden Was
the Past chapter on “Mr. Nelson’s
Light Plant.” It describes how her
grandfather did all that he said he
would do. He bought an Edison
dynamo and belted it up to the fl our
mill’s waterwheel. He set poles around
town, strung the wires and billed the
customers 50 cents a month per lamp,
and the city paid $30 a month for
street lights.
Please see GOLD, Page 12