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| The Childs-Irving Power Plant, nestles in a remote, ruggedly scenic canyon between Strawberry and Camp Verde Arizona. The plant was and still is considered an engineering and logistical wonder. In 1908 when its construction began, Arizona was still four years from statehood and much of the central part of the territory was a roadless wilderness of steep piney mountains, high desert plateaus and deep rocky canyons. The railroad nearest the plant’s site was at Mayer, a two-day horseback ride over this rugged terrain.
The remote location was selected for its water power. Fossil Creek, unusual in Arizona for the abundance and dependability of its waters, powers the Childs-Irving turbines. The creek’s source, Fossil Springs, at the foot of the Mogollon Rim, gushes at a rate of 43 cubic feet per second, summer or winter, rain or shine. Pioneers named the springs and creek for the fossil-like appearance of creek-side rocks and vegetation coated with calcium carbonate deposits from the creek’s water. Before the creek was diverted, its waters formed large travertine formations along the 14-mile course of the creek—ideal spawning grounds for native fish.
For more than a year, 450 mostly Indian and Mexican laborers and equally as many horses and mules, toiled to build this technological wonder in the wilderness. First they built 40 miles of road to haul the tons of concrete and reinforcing steel to the plant’s site. Then they constructed a dam, powerhouse and nearly 8,800 feet of concrete flume to bring water to the Childs plant.
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With completion of the concrete powerhouse in 1909, the Childs plant began generating electricity. Most of the power went to the booming copper mines in Jerome and to the gold and silver mines and rough and tumble mining camps in the Bradshaw Mountains. By the end of 1914, World War I increased demand for minerals, and more power was needed at the mines. This spurred construction of the nearby Irving plant, completed in 1916.
Through the ’20s and ‘30s, The tiny plants also provided power to light the nascent communities of Prescott and Phoenix, which at that time were vying for bragging rights as the state’s largest "cities." For the rest of the century, the Childs-Irving plant’s generators continued to spin their 4.2 megawatts of electricity as APS built more and much larger gas, coal and nuclear powered generating plants to meet the needs of a rapidly growing Arizona. By the latter half of the century, Childs-Irving was dwarfed by the state’s other generating facilities.
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