Neversink Hydroelectric Plant / Power House, Grahamsville
A completely generic 'Power House — 1954' may finally have a place: Grahamsville, where major hydroelectric and New York City water-supply infrastructure was coming online that same year.
Infrastructure context: the Neversink Reservoir and dam, not the powerhouse. Not confirmed as Joseph's project building.
Current view · 2026 · Photo: Mr. Matté · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source
Why this project matters
- Project identity
- Very strong
- Kelly connection
- Family source
- Masonry scope
- Probable
Rita’s list
Transcription: Power House — 1954
Recorded by Rita Bartscherer · Bartscherer family record
KM-021
1 of two
“Power House — 1954”
Adler & Neilson’s archive lists 'Power House, Grahamsville, NY' in 1954—the exact year on Joseph’s list.
Neversink is more than a dam. Water released from its reservoir passes through a hydroelectric plant before continuing toward New York City, turning the same Catskill system into drinking water, electricity and a celebrated trout fishery. The plant entered service in 1954, close to Rita's 1953 date. One terse line on the list opens onto a whole landscape engineered to keep the city alive.
What Kelly did here
Family source
Probable
Likely: most likely heavy-duty CMU/concrete-block enclosure and equipment-room walls, interior partitions, shafts and masonry backup; specialized refractory/stone work should not be assumed without specifications.
This scope is recorded as probable, not documented. It is a disciplined reading of the building and the trade practice of the period, not a contract-level record of Kelly’s work.
The construction team
The construction team for this job has not yet been established.
What happened to it
Sources
6 citedOpen →
- 01findingaids.library.nyu.edu
items001
- 02fundinguniverse.com
central hudson gas and electricity corporation history
- 03bscesjournal.org
Vol 41 No 3 July 1954
- 04commons.wikimedia.org
File:Neversink Dam from NY 55, June 2026.jpg
- 05hydroreform.org
neversink
- 06dec.ny.gov
neversink river trout fishing
- Mr. Matté · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · 2026-06-06
Neversink Reservoir and dam from NY 55, June 2026. The photograph shows the dam and reservoir, not the Grahamsville power house recorded on the list.
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