Organized by Victor Gustav Bloede, the Patapsco Electric & Manufacturing Company harnessed the Patapsco River's waterpower to generate electricity. Completed in 1907, Bloede Dam furnished electricity for Ellicott City, Catonsville, Carroll, Halethorpe, Arbutus, St. Denis, Elkridge, and parts west of Baltimore until 1924. To avoid flooding large upstream areas, the company built turbines and generating equipment inside a small dam, creating the world's first submerged hydroelectric plant. Although this cutting-edge design solved one problem, water intakes in the dam wall quickly clogged with silt because erosion from treeless hillsides made the river muddy. As Bloede recognized the need to reforest the Patapsco Valley so his company could continue providing electricity to local residents, a conservationist mindset was growing among Baltimore's urban leaders, and the Patapsco Forest Reserve, now Patapsco Valley State Park, was established in 1907 to begin reforestation.