Power System in 1830At the time that construction started on the Delaware and Raritan Canal, the power system of the Prallsville Mills worked as follows:

A dam across the Wickecheoke creek several hundred yards upstream of the mill site impounded water in the Upper Mill Pond. Water flowed via the headrace to the Lower Mill Pond whose elevation was higher than the elevation of the surrounding landscape so that the water could fall onto the mill's waterwheels. From the lower millpond, water was directed through races into the grist mill, saw mill, and oil mill. The exhaust water from the saw and grist mills exited directly into the Wickecheoke Creek; exhaust water from the oil mill was released into a small stream emtying into the Delaware River. (The locations of the saw mill and the main road through the mill complex are hypothetical. The present-day Route 29 passes between the store - now a house - and the site of the Lower Mill Pond.)
Power Saystem After 1834When the Delaware and Raritan Canal was built in 1834 it intercepted the Wickecheoke Creek just before the creek entered the Delaware River. The canal also caused the creek's water level to be raised behind the Grist Mill by 8 to 10 feet, making it impossible for the mill to discharge exhaust water to the creek. The Canal Company agreed to provide canal water to the mill and built a stone culvert under the canal to carry exhaust water directly to the Delaware River.

The Canal Company's agreement to supply enough water to power 3 millstones - 4 if it could be done at no harm to the canal - was a tremendous opportunity for the Prallsville Mill. Canal water was more plentiful than the creek water, and it was a far more reliable source than a creek that could nearly run dry during even mild droughts and would often freeze over in the winter.

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