Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Street art in Cartagena.
Colombia • 10 days, 9 nights
Colombia Discovery: Coffee, Art & Music
from
Caucasus - Geghard Monastery, Armenia
Armenia • 15 days, 14 nights
Caucasus Road Trip: Azerbaijan, Georgia & Armenia
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Lighthouse and Museum of Jára Cimrman (Maják a muzeum Járy Cimrmana).
Lighthouse of Jára Cimrman
Markers honor 865 war dead.
Sovjet Ereveld (Soviet Field of Honor)
The intaglio leaves a subtle impression on the land along Riverside Drive in Fort Atkinson.
Panther Intaglio
Schooner Ernestina-Morrissey
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The sign declares this the number-one gumbo shop in town.
Gumbo Hut Shioya
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
The Village Tavern of Long Grove - exterior.
The Village Tavern
Hunter House Hamburgers
L’Escamoteur
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
USDA and Washington State agriculture officials tagged this Asian giant hornet. Sept. 10, 2021.
What Ever Happened to the Murder Hornets?
about 9 hours ago
The exterior of the Hall of Records.
Atlas Obscura Mailbag: Urban Exploration, Illegal Carvings, and Repeat Vacations
2 days ago
Biosphere 2 campus (2016)
Biosphere 2: How Volunteers Survived for 2 Years in an Airtight Habitat
3 days ago
Places like Forest Grove linger on the edge of wilderness and civilization.
Listening for Echoes of the Forest Grove Sound
3 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States New York State New York City Niagara Falls Edward Dean Adams Power Plant

Edward Dean Adams Power Plant

Genesis of modern hydroelectric power.

Niagara Falls, New York

Added By
Allison Meier
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
Edward Dean Adams Power Station   http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ada...
Edward Dean Adams Power Station   http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ada...
Adams Power Plant Transformer House; Lvklock/Photographer   http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ada...
Adams Power Plant Transformer House; Lvklock/Photographer   http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ada...
  StephenVincent / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

All that remains from the Edward Dean Adams Power Plant is the Transformer House, a limestone building with a dilapidated roof. When the first modern hydroelectric power station was built in 1895, it realized the need for the transmission of commercial electricity over large distances, and fulfilled inventor Nikola Tesla’s long held dream of harnessing the great power of Niagara Falls.

In 1893, Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company won the contract for the station, beating out a bid from Thomas Edison and his direct current system. The project was aimed at using the natural power of the Falls to provide energy to industry around it, as well as the city of Buffalo, New York. With Nikola Tesla’s polyphase alternating current system behind Westinghouse’s machinery, when the switch was flipped at the new station on November 16, 1896, power surged to Buffalo.

Designed by the architectural firm McKim, Mead, and White, the completed complex was the first alternating current electrical generating plant built on a large scale in the world. Its success encouraged the international creation of hydroelectric stations, now the most widely used form of renewable energy.

The power station was named after Edward Dean Adams in 1927, the then president of the Cataract Construction Company that built the first power stations at the Falls. While Tesla was working on alternating current engineering, the Cataract Construction Company had researched how to develop “Niagara Power.” The progression of the machines and research at the same time allowed hydroelectric power to be achieved by the end of the 19th century.

The power plant was closed in 1961 and Power Stations #1 and #2 were destroyed in 1965. The original equipment is gone, although one of the generators is held in by Smithsonian Institution. While the Adams Power Plant Transformer House is on the National Register of Historic Places, the decay of the vacant building continues to put it in danger of irreversible deterioration.

Related Tags

Inventions Electrical Oddities

Community Contributors

Added By

Allison

Edited By

StephenVincent

  • StephenVincent

Published

September 20, 2010

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_niagara.html
  • http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1552&ResourceType=Building
  • http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Early_Electrification_of_Buffalo:_The_Beginning_of_Central_Station_Service
  • http://www.nickpc.com/nfhpc/endangered.html
  • http://www.ieee.org/organizations/pes/public/2008/mar/peshistory.html
  • http://www.nywea.org/clearwaters/pre02fall/303020.html
Edward Dean Adams Power Plant
1501 Buffalo Avenue
Niagara Falls, New York, 14303
United States
43.08167, -79.0429
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Niagara Tesla Monument in New York

Niagara Falls, New York

miles away

Clifton Hill

Niagara Falls, Ontario

miles away

Book Corner

Niagara Falls, New York

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls

New York

Places 7

Nearby Places

Niagara Tesla Monument in New York

Niagara Falls, New York

miles away

Clifton Hill

Niagara Falls, Ontario

miles away

Book Corner

Niagara Falls, New York

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls

New York

Places 7

Related Stories and Lists

The 11 Best Places to Visit Near Niagara Falls for Curious Travelers

List

By Atlas Obscura

Related Places

  • Tesla Coil

    Los Angeles, California

    Griffith Observatory's Tesla Coil

    High on a hill overlooking Los Angeles lives a world famous, high power conical Tesla Coil.

  • Gerbrandy Tower lit up for Christmas.

    IJsselstein, Netherlands

    Gerbrandy Tower

    For the holidays, the tallest broadcasting tower in the Netherlands turns into one of the world's tallest Christmas trees.

  • Cincinnati, Ohio

    American Sign Museum

    Where beautiful signs live on forever.

  • Ceredigion, Wales

    Sol Cinema

    The world's smallest movie theater runs on solar power—an attraction in itself.

  • Messina, Italy

    Torri Morandi

    An abandoned building that once tightened a power line that stretched across Messina Strait.

  • The massive telescope array is visible from all over the small town

    Green Bank, West Virginia

    Green Bank: A Town for 'Wi-Fi Refugees'

    This rural community has attracted both scientists and techno-refugees due to its federally-mandated lack of technology.

  • Beijing, China

    The Amazing Robots of Wu Yulu

    A chinese farmer builds robots from scrap.

  • The Rosslyn Metro escalator. (Steven Cohen/Atlas Obscura)

    Arlington, Virginia

    Rosslyn Metro Escalator

    At 207 feet, one of the world's longest continuous escalators.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.