Dalby Waterwheel
Dalby waterwheel displays the ingenuity of early pioneers to the Hood Canal area. In 1917 by E.J. and Ethel Dalby purchased an eight-acre parcel of land which had a stream with sufficient water volume and current within its bounds. In 1922, Edwin Justus Dalby with the assistance of his father, William Owen Dalby, built a wooden cultivator wheel to provide electricity for his home. It was one of the first hydroelectric plants on Hood Canal and continued to function, providing electricity for the main house and several cabins, for many years.
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 Larry & Henry |  Thank you Henry! |
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 Birthday Cake |  Photo by Sara O'Callaghan |
 Ethel Dalby |  HCIC Logo |
 Books for Sale |  Stewards of the Waterwheel |
 Watercolor by Ethel Dalby |  Waterwheel 1930's |
 Photo by Dean Byrd |  Frozen Waterwheel by Mantha Panzera |
A LETTER FROM THE FAMILY
by Bill & Teri Abrams
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On behalf of the Dalby family at large we would like to thank the Hood Canal Improvement Club for its dedication and continuing care of the historic Dalby Waterwheel. It’s been cherished by generations of Dalbys and we are glad the community can enjoy it in its new location after SR 106 was moved inland. At that time the proposed site was dry and bare and we were concerned that the beauty of the original site could not be replicated. Happily the waterwheel looks natural and lovely thanks to the tireless efforts of club members and landscaping by Ken Dalby.
My namesake, great grandfather William Owen Dalby and his son Edwin Justus Dalby, built the waterwheel behind their pioneer home on Dalby Creek on the canal in 1923. It enabled the family to have lights for their 2 story pioneer home plus 10 rustic cabins and an outdoor dance floor. Inside the structure were working machinery using belts to power woodcutting saws. The last original cabin built in 1935 still stands!
The first Dalby in Union was William, a railroad engineer from Kansas, then blacksmith, boat builder, carpenter in Union. HIs son, Edwin, born in Union, attended school on the Skokomish reservation before receiving a degree from U of W. He made many friends on the canal and learned the native languages and Chinook. Gifts were exchanged including a cedar canoe and woven baskets. His wife, Ethel Dalby cared for their 4 children while Edwin traveled weekly to Seattle to write his newspaper column, “Down the Hatch” by Captain Barnacle. No internet and working remotely then!
My mother Gwenwyn (Dalby) Abrams and her 3 brothers, Fritz, Ed, and David all loved the canal. Family members wrote, painted, played piano, violin, banjo. with festive beach cookouts and family celebrations every summer. Uncle Ed stayed on to care or his Mother Ethel Dalby and lived on the canal almost his entire life. We are grateful for these ancestors and have tried to preserve the traditions and memories with our own family of 3 grown children and 6 grandchildren. We miss those who have gone and are extremely grateful to the Hood Canal Improvement Club for their care in preserving the history and beauty of the Dalby Waterwheel.