Unidentified Water Wheel
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Unknown Unknown 1600.0199.0002.jpg M - 199 B&W 1600-0199-0002 m199pb Print 4x6 Historic Photographs 1900s Reproduction requires permission. Digital images property of SHM Library & ArchivesDescription
Unidentified water wheel powering small mining mill operation, Yavapai County, Arizona Territory, c. 1900's.
Where water was plentiful, water wheels were often used instead of animal power to crush and process bulk rock to extract any minerals within.
The vertical waterwheel was one of the most important sources of energy and invented a century or two before the time of Christ. Water wheels were found next to areas of moving water such as rivers or streams. They harnessed the moving water to generate milling and concentrating machinery. When the flow was sufficient, the water wheel used flowing or falling water to create power by means of paddles or buckets mounted around the wheel. The energy they generated was then re-directed to mechanical devices and other uses where “power” was required.
Water wheels were used for a variety of purposes throughout history in addition to mining in the old West, including grinding grain in mills, powering machinery in foundries, and even lifting water for irrigation. Water wheels were a forerunner to modern hydroelectric power generation.
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