The powerhouse above Bridal Veil Falls is a piece of electrical history

At the head of the box canyon above Telluride, water drops down a tall cliff at Bridal Veil Falls. Perched at the top of that cliff is a small building that looks like it should not be there. It is a powerhouse, and it is a real piece of electrical history.

The building is the Smuggler-Union Hydroelectric Power Plant, often called the Bridal Veil Powerhouse, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In Telluride’s mining era, the deep mines needed power to run machinery, and hauling fuel up these slopes was hard and costly. Falling water offered another answer. The plant used the drop of the falls to make electricity, and it is linked to the early use of alternating-current power to serve mines in the area.

It was not the first of its kind here. The nearby Ames plant, dating to 1891, is the area’s famous pioneer of alternating-current power. The Bridal Veil plant came later and carried the same idea to the top of the cliff.

One practical note: the powerhouse sits on private land and is not open to visitors. You can see it from public viewpoints below, which is how most people enjoy it.

For confirmed dates, the plant’s full story, and the details of its historic listing, the careful sources are History Colorado’s page for the powerhouse and the National Park Service’s National Register records.