The Grand Rapids - Muskegon Power Company, a predecessor of today's Consumers Energy Company, built the Croton Hydroelectric Plant in 1906 - 1907, and the plant and its 110,000-volt transmission line, the highest voltage in use at the time, drew international attention. Spectators rode excursion trains to the site for tours of the dam and powerhouse and a grand dinner, and when the plant entered full service in September 1907 it represented the latest advances in electric power generation and transmission. Engineers from Russia, England, France, Italy, Japan, and India toured the plant when it opened, and the facility is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. More broadly, flowing water had long powered mines and mills, and with electrical advances in the 1880s, waterpower was soon used to generate electricity. The country's first public demonstration of hydroelectric power took place in Grand Rapids on July 24, 1880, when sixteen carbon arc street lamps were lit by a belt driven dynamo powered by a water turbine at the Wolverine Chair Factory. In Michigan, abundant water resources were harnessed for electric generating equipment, first at existing dams and mills and later at sites built specifically for hydroelectric generation, and the electricity from these plants powered homes and businesses and helped drive the state's growth as a leading industrial center.