Electricity came to Salida in 1887 when local townsfolk formed The Electric Illuminating Company. In 1892, the Salida Light and Power Company built a 1000-kilowatt steam generating plant at this site on the banks of the Arkansas River. The east half of the building housed the generators or dynamos, while the west section contained boilers, furnaces, and coal storage, and an enclosed yard on the west side once held the transformers. After Salida Light and Power Company joined with Public Service Co. of Colorado in 1924, the plant operated successfully until 1958, when cheaper power became available through the nearby Poncha substation and the steam plant was shut down. The building was then abandoned and for thirty years served only as a home for flocks of pigeons. In the late 1980s, a visionary group of local townsfolk came together again to purchase and save the building, and years of hard work and dedication transformed the historic structure into the pride of the Arkansas Riverwalk.