Electricity & Natural Gas

We take electricity for granted today. Most of us cannot remember a time when we were not able to turn on a light with the flick of a switch. Electricity lights our homes, offices, streets, parks, and stadiums. But electrical power is a relatively new service in many parts of our country, including Chester Township.

Although telephone service came to the village of Conklin in 1905, electrical service was not available until 1927. The first mention of electrical power for the village of Conklin was in the following article in the April 22, 1921 edition of the Coopersville Observer.

Conklin and Ravenna To Have Power

Organize Company With $120,000 Capital

Dreams of a half century were realized by citizens of two sister villages, one in Muskegon County and the other just over the border in Ottawa County, in the organization of the Ravenna-Conklin Light & Power Co.

Although rivaling each other in their private enterprises, the villages of Conklin and Ravenna always had one thing in common and that was the beautiful Crockery Creek.

For years the citizens of both places have talked a proper dam that would provide not only the utility electricity, buy also embody an artificial lake which if added to the natural scenery, would make one of the most picturesque resorts in the state.

In Fulfillment of this dream came the announcement of the formation of the Ravenna-Conklin Light & Power Company with a $120,000 capital, to build a hydro-electric plant on Crockery Creek. Tom F. Rogers, publisher of the Ravenna Times, started the movement for development of this water power twenty-five years ago, and associated with him are F. E. Thatcher, R. H. Lange, S. M. Jennings, and M. A. Koepel of Ravenna and H. I. McMillan of Conklin.

It was three years ago that the business men of the two towns advanced the money to make a preliminary survey of the project. The engineering firm of Holland, Eckerman & Holland, of Ann Arbor, was engaged and after a thorough study and survey, the engineers declared that the project was entirely practical. Their figures showed that it would cost about $70,000 to dam a creek and produce the necessary water for the project. The engineers’ report shows that it will be possible to develop four hundred horse power, forty per cent more power than will be needed at the present time for the two towns. The dam will be constructed three miles down stream at the Bailey bridge and such a dam will provide a lake of 260 acres, lying along the edge of Ravenna. The company plans to furnish light and power not only to the town [sic - two] towns, but also to the surrounding rural district, possibly for a radius of ten miles. The valley will be cleared and if the present plans carry out fully, Ravenna will have an artificial lake at its door for boating and other sports.

At the company organization meeting, six directors out of nine were elected. Those chosen are: President, Herman I. McMillan, Conklin; Treasurer, Robert H. Lange, Ravenna; Secretary, Tom F. Rogers, Ravenna; Philip S. Moon, Conklin; Frank E. Thatcher, Ravenna; John Doney, Ravenna.

It was five years later, on August 31, 1926, that the Chester Township Board voted to grant the Ravenna-Conklin Light and Power Company the right to construct poles and lines in Chester Township. Then on February 22, 1927, the Township Board voted to grant the Southern Michigan Light & Power Co. permission to construct and maintain pole lines in the Township. A year later, on February 9, 1928, the Board voted to enter into a new contract with Southern Michigan Light and Power Company for lighting the streets of Conklin.

During the late 1920’s, electrical power was available only to the village of Conklin and to those living along the route that the lines ran from the power plant in Ravenna to Conklin. It was several more decades before electrical power was available to everyone in Chester Township.

It was 1966 before natural gas became available to some of the residents of Chester Township. On December 12, 1965, the Chester Township Board, after months of negotiations, voted to give a franchise to Michigan Consolidated Gas Company to run natural gas lines through Chester Township. Mich Con wanted to run a major gas distribution line through parts of the township. The Township granted the franchise to Michigan Consolidated Gas Company with the understanding that Mich Con would provide natural gas to the residents of Crockery Lake immediately and then to the village of Conklin within a few years.

Currently, the only areas of the township that have natural gas are Crockery Lake and those areas immediately along the main gas distribution line. The people in the village of Conklin are still without natural gas.