The Kinne Collection

On June 19, 1999, ASME International 's History and Heritage Committee designated the Clarence E. Kinne Collection of Water Turbines as a Mechanical Engineering Heritage Collection. The committee presented the Jefferson County Historical Society in Watertown, NY where the collection is displayed, with a plaque marked as follows:

"This collection, assembled by engineer Clarence E. Kinne (1869-1950) between 1907 and 1937, is believed to be the largest in the world. Most of the turbines powered machine works, factories, saw, grist and paper mills in the northern counties of New York. Examples range from crude, one-of-a-kind wheels, designed and built by their users based largely on instinct and observation and incorporating parts of wood, to sophisticated, high-efficiency, all-metal machines by large builders dedicated solely to turbine works." 

The collection represents American development of water power from a time well before the invention of the "true" turbine to the evolution of the inward-flow reaction turbine used in today's largest hydroelectric plants. Further information about the Kinne Collection can be found among ASME International's Landmark pages. Information about the Jefferson County Historical Society can be found on a web page of the Northern New York Library Network.