Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Industry & Commerce, Site

Location

108 Hoag Rd, Cuddebackville, NY 12729, USA

Lat/Long

41.46009, -74.60248

Grant Recipient

Town of Deerpark

Built CA. 1902 on the abandoned Delaware and Hudson (D&H) Canal, the Neversink Light and Power Company’s hydropower plant, later referred to as the Cuddebackville Plant, provided local electricity to the Neversink Valley region in Orange County, New York. Though it would change ownership throughout its existence, the hydropower plant remained in operation until CA. 1950, despite running at limited capacity during its last two years of use.

Like the old D&H Canal it repurposed, the hydropower plant utilized the nearby Neversink River to supply the necessary water in its early stages. When abandoned, the D&H Canal included a dam across the Neversink River, which diverted water into a 1-mile long feeder. Parts of these features, following some renovations such as the raising of the embankments of the dam, were used by the operators of the hydropower plant to generate electricity. Of the construction of the plant, the August 8th, 1903 edition of the Electrical World and Engineer had this to say:

“An interesting hydraulic-electric development has recently been completed in the Neversink Valley, Orange County, N.Y. through the use of the abandoned works and canal of the Delaware and Hudson Company… The work was carried on so energetically that despite unforeseen difficulties in execution, labor troubles and delays of manufacturers in deliveries of apparatus, the plant was put in operation…
And the hydro power plant remained in operation until CA. 1950, when heavy rains and subsequent flooding led to its permeant closure.”

As of 2022 the property where the abandoned hydropower plant sits belongs to the Orange County Parks and Recreation Department, which maintains the D&H Canal Park located there. A number of historic markers commemorating the history of the D&H Canal can be found within the vicinity, including one commemorating the Neversink Aqueduct. Also contained within the park is the Neversink Valley Museum of History and Innovation.

Though the old hydropower plant is still visible from the nearby road, the structure is closed to the public.

Links

• D&H Canal Park