The Reeve Electric Association Plant, now known as the REA Power Plant Museum, is an historic structure located near

Hampton, Iowa Hampton is a town in Franklin County, Iowa, United States. The population was 4,337 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Franklin County. Geography Hampton's longitude and latitude coordinates, in decimal form are 42.74316 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. In the 1930s only 10% of rural homes and farms in the United States had electricity. The first mention of

rural electrification Rural electrification is the process of bringing electrical power to rural and remote areas. Rural communities are suffering from colossal market failures as the national grids fall short of their demand for electricity. As of 2017, over 1 billi ...

in Hampton came in March 1936. It was the first farmer-owned power plant in the United States to receive an REA grant in 1937 and in 1938 it was the second to go on-line. There were four generators powered by diesel engines when the plant was in full production. In 1988 the building was given to the Franklin County Historical Society. It opened a rural and electrical museum in the former plant in 1990. The same year it was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

References

External links

Franklin County Historical Society
Industrial buildings completed in 1938 Buildings and structures in Franklin County, Iowa Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Museums in Franklin County, Iowa History museums in Iowa Science museums in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Franklin County, Iowa {{Iowa-museum-stub