Browsed by
Tag: Grand Coulee Dam

Classic WA photos: Kettle Falls

Classic WA photos: Kettle Falls

Go to any of Washington’s four corners and you’ll see stunning beauty. In the northeastern part of the state, many of those gorgeous views are dominated by the mighty Columbia River. The Columbia’s appearance has changed over the years. This 1928 shot of Kettle Falls’ Lower Falls shows how the Columbia looked before dams altered the landscape. Kettle Falls was an ancient and important salmon fishing and trading site for Native Americans. The falls were flooded in 1940 when the…

Read More Read More

What’s our next exhibit? Funny you ask

What’s our next exhibit? Funny you ask

Our month-ling Quilts of Valor exhibit was taken down earlier this week, so the walls in our office’s front lobby are unusually bare. But that won’t last for long. The Office of Secretary of State is putting the final touches on a new, privately funded exhibit to be unveiled in early September. It’s called “Grand Coulee to Grunge: Eight stories that changed the world.” The free exhibit, which will be displayed for a year before traveling around the state,  recounts…

Read More Read More

Archives treasure #1: Columbia Basin Commission files

Archives treasure #1: Columbia Basin Commission files

(Photo courtesy of Washington State Archives) As we’ve done since January, we’re featuring three rare, interesting or just plain cool items or collections found in our State Archives.  The first of the three “Archives treasures” for August is the collection of records and photos for the Columbia Basin Commission, which was tasked with overseeing the Columbia Basin Reclamation Project. Learn more about the project here. According to Archives staff, the commission’s records include minutes, correspondence, subject files, maps, drawings, rate…

Read More Read More

Curtis dam negatives top Library jewels poll

Curtis dam negatives top Library jewels poll

(Photo courtesy of Washington State Library) Leading wire to wire, the Asahel Curtis glass photographic negatives of Grand Coulee Dam was the overwhelming winner in April’s State Library jewels online poll. The Curtis negatives took first with 62 percent, well ahead of the Seattle World’s Fair Commission records (31 percent) and W.E. McCroskey’s poem about Northwest Pioneers (7 percent). The image above is one of the few color negatives in that collection. The black-and-white negatives feature the dam’s construction. Next…

Read More Read More

April Library jewel #3: Grand Coulee Dam photos

April Library jewel #3: Grand Coulee Dam photos

(Photo courtesy of Washington State Library) Earlier in the week we spotlighted the first two candidates in this month’s State Library jewels contest: 1) a poem about Northwest pioneers; and 2) the Seattle World’s Fair Commission documents. The third and final contender this month is the collection of Asahel Curtis negatives of Grand Coulee Dam. This collection consists of about 40 glass photographic negatives taken by Curtis for the Columbia Basin Commission. The majority of the negatives are black and…

Read More Read More

This Day in Washington History: November 16, 1932

This Day in Washington History: November 16, 1932

On November 16, 1932, the Wenatchee World newspaper made a plea to local businesses requesting that they write letters to Congress about building a dam in their area.  The plea worked.  The letters were written, and Congress responded by funding the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam, which still stands today. Photo courtesy of the Washington State Archives.           

From Your Corner of Washington: Grand Coulee Motel

From Your Corner of Washington: Grand Coulee Motel

Photo courtesy of Jim Nielend If you haven’t already visited historic Grand Coulee Dam, it is a must see for everyone, and you’ll find a lot more than just this stunning sunset over the Grand Coulee Motel.  From the tours inside its many parts, to the nightly laser show on the side of the dam, it is fun (not to mention educational!) for the entire family.  There’s so much to see in this part of Washington, Electric City has a lot…

Read More Read More