In the spring of 1900 Vernon Wright, a Boston architect, came to Fergus Falls to view properties that he inherited from his father, George Wright.

One of those properties was Wright Dam-known as Central Dam today-on the Otter Tail River in downtown Fergus Falls. At the time, it was supplying mechanical power to several industrial customers on Mill Street through a cable drive.

By 1900 the dam was 29 years old and in poor condition. Wright hired a contractor to repair the dam and work was complete in September.

In the spring of 1901 Wright decided to generate electricity with the dam.  If he could persuade his customers to make the change from direct cable drive to electric motors they would save money. He must have been successful because by June he was preparing to install a hydraulic turbine and other electrical equipment. In March of 1902 the dam began generating electricity.

In 1905 Wright gave up his architecture business in Boston on the advice of his physician, and after that he spent most of his time looking after his properties in Fergus Falls.       

As early as 1902 Wright was looking for another dam site so he could expand his electric power business. The location he eventually chose was at Dayton Hollow on the Otter Tail River several miles southwest of Fergus Falls.

Meanwhile the city of Fergus Falls had been operating its own municipal electric power system since 1895. A dam and a hydroelectric plant on the Otter Tail River about three miles northeast of the city supplied the power. So by 1902 there were two electric power systems operating in Fergus Falls. Wright's dam served all the industrial loads, and the municipal system served all of the other customers. 

A new dam at Dayton Hollow and the associated equipment would cost about $100,000. Wright didn't have the resources to finance a project of that magnitude on his own. He had to find a partner and form a new company. As it happened he didn't have to go very far. Fred G. Barrows was a resident of Fergus Falls. He had no interest in the operations side of the business. He was a promoter and a financial person. The new company would have to sell bonds to raise money, and that would be his contribution. Barrows was very good at raising money because the bonds sold quickly.

The new company was incorporated on July 6, 1907, under the name "Otter Tail Power Company". The papers were signed by Wright, Barrows, and two others.

The construction of the Dayton Hollow Dam started in the spring of 1907 and was completed in early 1909. Around April 1 the new dam began generating electricity and Otter Tail Power Company began operating as an electric utility. The company's first customer was Northern Light Electric Company in Wahpeton, North Dakota. To serve that customer the company had to build a transmission line from Dayton Hollow to Wahpeton. It was rated at 22,000 volts.

In 1908 the city of Fergus Falls built a new dam and a hydroelectric station downstream from the old one. The old dam was in poor condition and it didn't have enough capacity to serve to the city. The city engineer took some soil borings at the new site and reported that the ground would provide a good foundation for the dam. He should have conducted a more thorough investigation.

Early on the morning of September 24, 1909, the new dam washed out and broke up. Today that site is called “Broken Down Dam” and it still looks just like it did on the day of the washout.

When the dam failed it released a wall of water that rushed downstream and wiped out four other dams along the way, including Wright Dam. When it reached Dayton Hollow it put tremendous pressure on the new dam but it held. Had it failed Otter Tail Power Company would have been out of business after less than six months of operation.

The destruction of the city dam and Wright Dam left Fergus Falls without a source of electricity. Otter Tail offered to buy the city's distribution system but the city council refused to sell. They wanted to remain a municipal utility.

Otter Tail then agreed to serve the city temporarily as a wholesale customer. To provide that service a transmission line had to be built from Dayton Hollow to Fergus Falls. That took some time so the city was without electricity from September 24 to November 6.

The city council never got around to replacing Broken Down Dam so Fergus Falls remained a wholesale customer until 1953 when residents voted to sell the city's distribution system to Otter Tail.

Near the end of 1909, Otter Tail owned a transmission line from Fergus Falls to Wahpeton by way of Dayton Hollow and two dams, the soon to be repaired Wright Dam and the new Dayton Hollow Dam. They served two large wholesale customers, the Northern Light Electric Company in Wahpeton and the city of Fergus Falls. Their only retail connections were the industrial customers in Fergus Falls.

By 1910 the shiny, new Otter Tail Power Company was well established, profitable, and on its way to 100 years of successful operation.

Written by Myron Broschat, Otter Tail Power Company retiree
Sources: The Power People by Ralph Johnson and Otter Tail Power Company by Thomas Wright