A POWERFUL DISCOVERY 11 Restoration process brings new life to old turbine at Hagley Mills Machine 22 shop Walk the walk Hagley offers a periodic “H2 Oh!” walk- ing tour focusing on the evolution of 33 The turbine was water power from the water wheel to installed on the the steam engine. The tour includes a edge of The stop at the restored turbine. Upcoming Brandywine, tours are scheduled for June 7 and July 5 4 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Reservations are between the suggested. For details, click here: Discovering 11 rolling www.hagley.org/walking-tour-h2-oh%21 and restoring Turbine 5 mills. Happy anniversary the turbine 2 This year marks the 200th anniversary of The 1890 Hercules Turbine Water 2 the Hagley Yard, which opened in 1814 Wheel was discovered on the Ha- to expand capacity to meet the growing gley gunpowder yard buried near Machine demands for gunpowder during the War the river below the millwright 6 shop of 1812. In 1814, the DuPont Co. pro- and machine shop (bottom 33 duced 374,000 pounds of gunpowder for photo). When the yard closed in the federal government, up from just 1921, DuPont bulldozed the build- 2,850 pounds in 1811 before the war ings, and most of the large metal 7 began. remnants were taken for scrap 4 Hagley Yard When the metal during World War II. It took How the Site of the first war ended, eight months for workers to dis- gunpowder mills in the compa- 11 America assemble, clean up, and reassem- ny’s facilities ble the cast-iron turbine (top turbine and reputa- 5 photo), which weighs between 8 100 . tion allowed D 1,500 and 2,000 pounds. operates R it to contin- 2 K 2 E The restored turbine was E R C ue to thrive Y designed by John B. McCormick, The recovered turbine has LE G even when RD. A who held several different been installed on the banks UCK H 141 6 B Hagley government patents. This turbine was a pre- of The Brandywine. Museum 3 orders dried cursor to the mixed flow water3 Through the generated 141 up. 1 Gate 1 Greenville N turbine, which revolutionized 1 1 water power of the mill B E.I. du Pont’s K r Í MILE U.S. industry. race and the turbine, 43 52 E a N n vision for the 7 Mill N d horsepower is being sup- E C y T r w gunpowder T e ine race plied to the machine shop- P ek 4 IK mills was “to 2 2 100 E 2 2 without the aid of a motor. Wilmington make some- 11 thing bigger 1 A mill race (canal) has and better 8 been diverted from the waters than anything that existed,” according to The turbine on The 5 Rod 33 33 of The Brandywine. A gate is Lucas Clawson, Hagley’s reference Brandywine will power 22 opened, allowing water to race into archivist. Consequently, throughout the the equipment inside an open pipe. company’s early years du Pont plowed a the machine shop. lot of money back into the powder yards 2 The water travels underground through DAN GARROW/ 6 4 the4 pipe into an enclosed pit area where the to expand and update them. “He want- THE NEWS JOURNAL 3 ed them to be lasting and permanent,” 3 water wheel turbine has been installed. Clawson said. He certainly succeeded in Turbine 3 Water gushes in and around the turbine and it this vision, with the yards operating suc- spins under the pressure. The speed can be regulated by cessfully for more than 100 years. 7 4 5 the amount of water5 allowed in. The spinning turbine turns a Big bangs vertical rod extending from the turbine to high above the pit. 4 This rod starts turning a wheel on top. The wheel is connected The structures where the powder was by rope to a second wheel on a vertical support. produced were specially built with three 6 6 sturdy walls. By John Micklos, Jr. prisingly, it was largely 5 5 This spinning rope assembly is attached to another, which in The wall fac- Special to The News Journal intact,” said Joan Hoge- 8 turn is connected to a wheel mounted on the machine shop out- ing the river North, director of mu- side wall. and the ceil- ot far from the banks of the Brandywine River on the seum services. Excess water *Note: Not 6 A hole was drilled through the machine shop wall and a rod grounds of the Hagley Museum and Library lay buried It took eight months 7 ing were spills into The 6 to 7scale connects to a wheel-and-belt assembly inside. This connects to made of flim- treasure. This was no pirate’s treasure with an “X marks for restoration team mem- Brandywine . other wheels and ultimately powers the shop’s machines. sy materials the spot” map. Instead, it was a perfect treasure for bers – which included Ha- so that any Hagley – an artifact steeped in history that also had gley staff and volunteers – explosion potential for modern use. to disassemble, clean up, Timeline of the gunpowder yards would blow The buried treasure was a Hercules Turbine Water and reassemble the cast- would work. Soon after, a 7 N volunteer doing online research Some8 key dates in the history of the DuPont8 gunpowder yards straight up Wheel, which helped power DuPont’s Hagley gunpowder iron turbine, which weighs and out of yard beginning in 1890. When the yard closed in 1921, DuPont bull- between 1,500 and 2,000 discovered the original owner’s 1799: Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours leaves France the building, dozed the buildings, and most of the large metal remnants were taken pounds. “We are blessed manual for the turbine, which con- with sons Victor Marie and Eleuthère Irénée. limiting the for scrap metal during World War II. with a number of volun- firmed their calculations were accurate. RC 1802: The DuPont Co. incorporates in the United States, damage. Over Staff believed this turbine lay buried near the river below the mill- teers who are retired engi- Fabricators in Wilmington built the steel skeleton for the pit, which and E.I. DuPont breaks ground for his first gunpowder the years, the wright and machine shop. They had three clues: 1) An old photo taken neers,” said Hoge-North. also has a series of 12-foot wooden beams weighing 8800 pounds each. mills. mills experienced 288 explosions, killing from the far side of the river showed the vague outline of a power Their expertise proved Powered by water flowing down from the mill race above, the turbine 1804: The Eleutherian Mills Yard begins producing gun- will supply 43 horsepower of energy to the machine shop, which is cur- 228 people. structure; 2) The machine shop building has a pulley wheel outside, Workers install the restored turbine. critical in the restoration powder. suggesting that it was once connected to an outside power source; process, which used not only rently powered by an electric motor. Using a 19th-century turbine to 1814: The company expands production into the newly ‘Safety first’ 3) There was a U-shaped hole in the ground facing the river, which was Hagley’s 19th-century machine shop, but also new technology. create green energy by taking something off the grid represents both built Hagley Yard to meet the federal demand for gun- “a symbolic and real step” in promoting sustainability at Hagley, said DuPont’s famous workplace motto where the turbine would have operated. The restoration went smoothly, but for many months the team powder during the War of 1812. Hoge-North. began in the powder yards. Owners and The had left a bequest for an unspecified project, struggled to design the pit that would house the turbine. “We tried 1818: A massive explosion destroys the Eleutherian Mills Yard. Production con- “We wanted to show how this site has always been a place of con- workers took many precautions to pro- and John McCoy, curator of mechanical exhibitions, suggested finding many different designs and possibilities,” said Hoge-North. “We tinues at the Hagley Yard. stant experimentation and innovation,” Hoge-North concluded. “This mote safety. For one thing, workers and restoring the turbine. After clearing some wooden debris, Hagley wanted to make this work, look right, and not be a maintenance night- will help us bring the story right up to the present.” 1827: The first turbine is invented in France. More efficient than the water wore and carried no metal – no coins, no staff located the turbine and unearthed it in the summer of 2011. “Sur- mare.” Finally, team members came up with a design they thought wheels that first powered the mills, turbines come into widespread usage at belt buckles. Despite the constant risk of DuPont in the 1840s. explosions, gunpowder making was still 1846: Alfred Nobel invents dynamite, which revolution- safer than mining or other dangerous izes the business. The powerful explosive plays a major occupations of the 1800s. role in building railroads, tunnels and dams during the Blue rock The big three Racing river If You Go westward expansion in the United States. The blue-hued “Brandywine Blue 1860s: The DuPont mills produce 40 percent of the gun- The three ingredients for making explosive One of the shortest rivers in the United What: The restored turbine is slated Gneiss” (from which the powder used by the U.S. Army and Navy during the Civil black gunpowder are a combination of 75 per- States, the Brandywine River made up to make its first public appearance Wilmington Blue Rocks name 12.5% War. cent saltpeter, 12.5 percent sulfur, and 12.5 for its lack of size with strategic place- derives) can be found throughout sulfur When: June 7 percent charcoal. Sulfur was imported from ment and strong water flow. The river 1890: The DuPont Co. purchases the Hercules Turbine the Wilmington area and along the Where: Hagley Museum and Library, 12.5% charcoal Europe. Charcoal was created by burning wil- drops 127 feet over its last five miles, Water Wheel that is now going back into service. ONLINE QUIZ AND Brandywine River. DuPont used the 200 Hagley Creek Rd., Wilmington low branches. Indian saltpeter had to be and its fast-flowing waters supplied 1920: The last major explosion occurs at the mills. rock for constructing gunpowder 75% saltpeter INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC shipped halfway around the world. The high power for many mills in the 18th- and Phone: (302) 658-4200 1921: The mills close. mill buildings because it was plenti- quality of the DuPont gunpowder gave it a 19th-centuries, including the DuPont Website: www.hagley.org 2011: Workers unearth the turbine and begin restoration efforts. Test how much you’ve learned about ful and sturdy. gunpowder facilities. competitive advantage over other brands. Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 2014: The turbine goes back into operation. HAGLEY’S RESTORED WATER WHEEL at delawareonline.com DESIGN AND GRAPHICS BY DAN GARROW /didyouknow COMING NEXT WEEK: ’ NEW MEADOW