One of the cool old machines outside is this water turbine, which was used locally as early as 1904. The attendant sign indicates that it was used on
Palmer's Dam in the nearby Tobacco River, which is near the Kuchen Dam. We assume that it was used either to drive machinery directly or to produce electricity. Driving machinery may be more likely as the Tobacco River is not a large river and couldn't be depended on for adequate flow through the entire year. This type of turbine is known as a Francis Turbine, developed in 1848 by
James B. Francis specifically for situations in which a fairly wide range of water heads is available.