By Rosemarie Vezina Braatz
St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin
Originally published 1965
©2003 Rosemarie Vezina Braatz
The end of Nevers Dam came in the floods of May, 1954, when sections of the structure were washed away. The dam became unusable and was removed by a wrecking crew in the fall of 1955. Huge bonfires on the shore consumed the wooden remnants, The concrete piers shown here replaced the original wooden ice-breaking piers. Art Comer, who was superintendent of N. S. P. here from 1948 until '56, counts the end of Nevers Dam as a real loss, as far as the St. Croix power dam is concerned. "With the dam at Nevers to help regulate the water level here, we could depend on the river for a more constant supply of power."
This story is meant to be more than a history of a dam. It is intended as a tribute to the hardy men who built Nevers Dam. . . . of timbers and rock, and their own endurance.
To these men, and to those who maintained Nevers Dam through the years, this story is respectfully dedicated.
We greatly appreciate the fine work of Bjorn Chinander, a student in Mr. Joel Prazak's Multimedia class at St. Croix Falls High School. He translated this booklet into HTML, making it possible to add this story to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' Website.