[Diver1111]

In Lake Opechee about a week ago I found a paddle wheel in about 37 feet of water. I am confident it is not from a boat of any kind, but I could be wrong.

I found it randomly diving not running side-scan; It is approx. 12 feet long, with wooden planks about 8" wide each that create the paddles. While I didn't study it too well, there were perhaps a dozen or so of these paddles.

The diameter of these paddles as I approximated them from the centerline (axle) of the assembly to their outer edge would put this thing at about 4 to 5 feet in diameter.

Question: What use would this device serve? Given it's location I would assume it had to do with the many mills that were right on that waterfront near the present-day Lakeport Damn, not powering a boat, given it's small diameter.

I attach a map of the area from perhaps 1890-this is sometimes called a "Sanborn Map"; Sanborn was hired to do building surveys of existing structures to determine their construction type, height, number of floors, square footage, proximity to water for fire-fighting purposes etc. way back when, to estimate the insurance risk they posed. I obtained these maps by visiting the State Library in Concord.

On the Sanborn map you will see canals referred to as sluices or raceways that could have had paddlewheels of some kind in them from which they drew some kind of power.

As for the attachment of the Sanborn map, if you want to see all of it I suggest you click on the attachment itself, then do a "Save As" and save it to your desktop, at which point you might be able to either view it better or print it out and piece it together.

Any help appreciated with this odd object.