Dam was built in the late 1800s. It was most likely built to supply mechanical power to a mill. It was abandoned in 1896. The City of Granite Falls bought the dam in 1911, and installed hydro power generators. The hydro plant was recently upgraded with more efficient equipment, resulting in a total electrical output of 1.2-Megawatts. The city hydro plant manager suggests that this is enough energy to supply the needs of 70% of the city.

This dam is a run of the river style dam. That is, it does not have a large storage reservoir behind the dam. As a result, each drop of water that enters the dam pool on a given day has to exit the dam that very same day. It also means that in periods of lower river levels, the dam produces less electrical output.

The city of Granite Falls has purchased a second abandoned dam on the Minnesota River just downstream from the city at Minnesota Falls. As of 2008, the city is converting this dam into a hydroelectric generator. It is planned that both dams will work in tandem to generate electricity twice from each drop of water that flows down the river.