From Your Corner: Grand Coulee Dam
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Located on the Columbia River about 90 miles west of Spokane, it’s the largest concrete structure and largest electric-producing facility in the U .S.
Photos alone don’t do the Grand Coulee Dam justice. You have to see it in person to appreciate its enormous size and marvel at the challenge of building such a structure that has meant so much to the Columbia Basin.
This photo, courtesy of the State Archives, shows the dam during its construction phase, which began in 1933. Completed in 1942, the dam first generated electricity in 1941 and it began providing irrigation water in 1951.
Grand Coulee Dam is named after the nearby gigantic coulee, or dry streambed, that was where the Columbia once flowed.
Throughout June and July, there is a free show in which lasers move on the dam’s spillway starting at 10 p.m. nightly. The laser show start times move to 9:30 in August and 8:30 in September.
For more info about the dam, go here .
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Secretary of State
Steve Hobbs
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