 The building's eponym was Edward Dean Adams, a businessman and entrepreneur in the electrical field.The Adams power plant followed an 1886 plan by engineer Thomas Evershed to tap the power of Niagara Falls, which involved a "hydraulic canal" and a brick-lined tunnel, when the Niagara Falls Power Company was formed.The Cataract Construction Company, a new company formed to exploit the opportunity, led by president Edward Dean Adams, first formed the International Niagara Commission in 1890 to come up with a plan for harnessing the Falls.