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Felix Holmes Power StationPrint Page 
The plaque commemorates the site of the first 'public' power station in Darwin from 1912 to 1934. The power station was owned and operated by Felix Holmes.
Felix Holmes power station was on the site of the Darwin Plaza building in Smith Street Mall. Remnants of the engines were found in an underground tank when the Darwin Plaza building was constructed in the 1980s The remnants of the engines were recovered by Power and Water and are now stored at Berrimah Power Station.
Felix Holmes is of Holmes Jungle fame and “Holmes Corner” flanked Smith, Knuckey and Mitchell Streets. From this site, he sold ice, cordials, frozen foods, meat and bread and produced electricity. Holmes also owned a fleet of pearling luggers, a share of the Don Picture Theatre, a number of landholdings (32 lots in the Darwin CBD alone), and lastly, a stable of 24 racehorses that raced in both Darwin and Sydney.
Location
| Address: | 41 Smith Street, Foyer, Darwin Plaza , Darwin, 0800 |
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| State: | NT |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -12.463696 Long: 130.841767 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Plaque |
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| Monument Theme: | Technology |
| Sub-Theme: | Industry |
| Approx. Event Start Date: | 1912 |
| Approx. Event End Date: | 1934 |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Tuesday 31st May, 2011 |
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1912 1934
This plaque commemorates Darwin`s first power station which operated on this site from 1912 - 1934.
The power station, a commercial venture, was owned and operated by Mr Felix Holmes, a prominennt Darwin businessman. The direct current plant supplied electricity to the Holmes Butchery and Iceworks.
In 1923 Holmes contracted to the Government to supply electricity to Government House, public buildings and some private residences.
This contract terminated in 1934 following the opening of a power station operated by the fledgling Darwin Municipal Council on a site in Lindsay Street.
A Ruston Hornsby Producer Gas Engine, from the Holmes Power station, was uncovered on this site in 1980, during the construction of Darwin Plaza.
The crankshaft of this engine is the focal point of a plaque erected at the Berrimah Gas Turbine Station to highlight development in power station technology.
