The situation changed considerably in 1904, when Dr. W. Gill Wylie, a New
York surgeon and water power developer with South Carolina roots, had the good
fortune to treat industrialist James B. Duke’s infected foot. Given the undivided
attention of the South’s wealthiest man, Dr. Wylie evangelized about the potential
of hydropower to fuel the Carolinas’ industrial enterprises. Duke was already
familiar with Wylie’s ideas, particularly the proposal to invest in his corporation,
the Catawba Power Company.