Primarily because it was the
world’s first artificial fishway. Built in 1928, its purpose was to allow Atlantic salmon and other fish to pass upriver to spawn after the dam at St. George had blocked their access.
The ladder consists of a series of 43 pools which are filled from the top of the dam. The water flows down from pool to pool while the salmon swim and jump upstream from pool to pool.
The dam was built in 1902 in a picturesque area in St. George known as
The Gorge by St. George Pulp and Paper to operate their mill equipment. The company ceased operations in 1967.
Now a 15 Megawatt hydro facility, the dam and hydro facility are owned by the J.D. Irving Corporation. The facility was rebuilt in 2002-2004, with the generators coming online in March or April of 2004. There's an
interesting article on its construction by the Kleinschmidt Group.