Editing Pelton wheel (section)

== History ==
[[file:Pelton wheel (patent).png|thumb|Figure from [[Lester Allan Pelton]]'s original October 1880 patent]]

Lester Allan Pelton was born in [[Vermillion, Ohio]] in 1829. In 1850, he traveled overland to take part in the [[California Gold Rush]]. Pelton worked by selling fish he caught in the [[Sacramento River]].<ref name=rpl>{{cite book |last=Lescohier |first=Roger P. |title=Lester Pelton and the Pelton Water Wheel  |publisher=Nevada County Historical Society |date=2011 |isbn=978-0-915641-15-4}}</ref> In 1860, he moved to [[Camptonville]], a center of [[placer mining]] activity. At this time many mining operations were powered by [[steam engine]]s which consumed vast amounts of wood as their fuel. Some water wheels were used in the larger rivers, but they were ineffective in the smaller streams that were found near the mines. Pelton worked on a design for a water wheel that would work with the relatively small flow found in these streams.<ref name=asme>{{Cite web |url=https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/energy/lester-allan-pelton |title=Lester Allan Pelton |publisher=American Society of Mechanical Engineers}}</ref>

By the mid 1870s, Pelton had developed a wooden prototype of his new wheel. In 1876, he approached the [[Miners Foundry]] in [[Nevada City, California]] to build the first commercial models in iron. The first Pelton Wheel was installed at the Mayflower Mine in Nevada City in 1878.<ref name=asme/> The efficiency advantages of Pelton's invention were quickly recognized and his product was soon in high demand. He patented his invention on 26 October 1880.<ref>{{US patent reference|number=233692|issue-date=Oct. 26,1880|inventor=L. A. Pelton| title=Water Wheel}}</ref> By the mid-1880s, the Miners Foundry could not meet the demand, and in 1888, Pelton sold the rights to his name and the patents to his invention to the Pelton Water Wheel Company in San Francisco. The company established a factory at  121/123 Main Street in [[San Francisco]].<ref name=sfpd>{{cite web |url=http://commissions.sfplanning.org/hpcpackets/2010.0485Uc2.pdf |publisher=San Francisco Planning Department |date=2012 |title=Showplace Square Historic Resource Survey Findings}}</ref>

The Pelton Water Wheel Company manufactured a large number of Pelton Wheels in San Francisco which were shipped around the world.  In 1892, the Company added a branch on the east coast at 143 Liberty Street in [[New York City]]. By 1900, over 11,000 turbines were in use. In 1914, the company moved manufacturing to new, larger premises at 612 Alabama Street in San Francisco. In 1956, the company was acquired by the [[Baldwin Locomotive Works|Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Company]], which ended manufacture of Pelton Wheels.<ref name=sfpd/>

In New Zealand, [[A & G Price]] in [[Thames, New Zealand]] produced Pelton waterwheels for the local market. One of these is on outdoor display at the Thames Goldmine Experience.