Jonval Turbines at New Mill House, 1870
From a stereoview ca. 1870. Engineer Emile Geyelin brought the technology for the turbines from France in 1849 and built a successful business from scratch, selling turbines and designing installations for them up and down the east coast of the United States. The large clock in the Mill House helped the operator accurately record running times for the turbines.
The roof of the Mill House, designed to be fire-proof and space-saving, incorporated narrow brick vaults between the flanges of wrought-iron beams that sat on massive, composite, riveted, wrought-iron joists, all supported by cylindrical cast-iron columns. This innovative structural system, manufactured without wooden components at the Phoenix Iron Works in nearby Phoenixville, PA., revolutionized the architecture of industrial, utility, and transportation structures, including subsequent renovations to the Old Mill House and to the roof of the 1851 Turbine and Pump Room. The air vessels in the photograph — critical shock-absorbing components of the pumping system that dampened potentially-destructive water hammer – and the columns supporting the roof were decorated with multiple colors of paint in the Victorian style, creating an attractive interior