Item: i90868

Authentic Medal of:

United States of America – New York
Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant
1963 Bronze Medal 114mm x 65mm (293.17 grams)
ROBERT MOSES NIAGARA POWER PLANT 1958 1963, Hydroelectric dam facade.
POWER AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK EXCELSIOR, Seal of the State of NY left, Posiedon with thunder and lightning bolts right, banner below. 

You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.

The Robert Moses Niagara Hydroelectric Power Station is a hydroelectric power station in Lewiston, New York, near Niagara Falls. Owned and operated by the New York Power Authority (NYPA), the plant diverts water from the Niagara River above Niagara Falls and returns the water into the lower portion of the river near Lake Ontario. It uses 13 generators at an installed capacity of 2,675 MW (3,587,000 hp).

Named for New York city planner Robert Moses, the plant was built to replace power production after the Schoellkopf Power Station, a nearby hydroelectric plant collapsed in 1956. It stands across the river from Sir Adam Beck Hydroelectric Power Stations in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

The land that the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant occupies has a long history of use. In 1805, Augustus and Peter Porter of Buffalo, New York, purchased the American Falls from New York in a public auction, and later acquired the rights to the eastern rapids above the falls as well, but died before they could bring their vision of a canal and power plant to reality. Several other companies later attempted similar projects without success.

In 1853, the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company was chartered; in 1861, it completed a 35 ft (11 m) wide and 8 ft (2.4 m) deep canal. The powerhouse finally opened in 1874, but produced little electricity even by the standards of the day.

In 1877, Jacob F. Schoellkopf purchased the canal, along with the water and power rights, for $71,000. He improved the canal and put the powerhouse to commercial use. In 1881, his company completed Schoellkopf Power Station No. 1; it would operate until 1904. In 1891, Schoellkopf Power Station No. 2 opened directly in front of the original, in the gorge below the falls, with a higher 210 ft (64 m) drop. In 1914 and 1918, the company built Schoellkopf Stations No. 3A and 3B respectively.

In 1886, the competing Niagara Falls Power Company, owned by the Cataract Construction Company, built the Adams Power Plant. Between 1900 and 1904, the company built the Powerhouse No. 2, bringing its total generators to 11.

In 1918, World War I led the power companies to merge into the Niagara Falls Power Company. From 1921 to 1924, the company built Schoellkopf Station No. 3C next to the previous ones. It contained three 25 Hz generators with a total capacity of 160 MW (210,000 hp), bringing the Schoellkopf Power Stations to 19 generators with a capacity of 340 MW (450,000 hp).

On June 7, 1956, water seeping into a back wall caused the collapse of two-thirds of Schoellkopf Power Station No. 3b and 3c, killing one worker and causing an estimated $100 million in damage.

Construction

To replace the antiquated and now partially destroyed Schoellkopf power stations, the New York Power Authority (NYPA) planned an $800 million power plant that would produce 2.4 GW. During planning, it was called the Niagara Power Project; later, it was named for NYPA head Robert Moses.

In 1957, the United States Congress approved the project. Construction began that year, although its completion would require the NYPA to gain the rights to 550 acres (220 ha) of Tuscarora Indian Reservation for a new 1,900-acre (770 ha), 22-billion-US-gallon (83,000,000 m³) reservoir. This it did in 1960, through a United States Supreme Court decision, the Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation.

During construction, over 12 million cubic yards (9.2 million cubic meters) of rock were excavated and twenty workers died. Construction was complete in 1961. When it opened in 1961, it was the Western world’s largest hydropower facility.

The generation facilities were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.

The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most capable navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of its active battle fleet alone exceeding the next 13 navies combined, including 11 U.S. allies or partner nations. It has the highest combined battle fleet tonnage and the world’s largest aircraft carrier fleet, with eleven in service, two new carriers under construction, and five other carriers planned. With 336,978 personnel on active duty and 101,583 in the Ready Reserve, the U.S. Navy is the third largest of the U.S. military service branches in terms of personnel. It has 290 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of June 2019.

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The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles (9.8 million km²), the United States is the world’s third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe’s 3.9 million square miles (10.1 million km²). With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital’s federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world’s 17 megadiverse countries.

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