Title Info: Grand Coulee Dam, Columbia Basin Project [Scrapbook], 1935-1941

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Record Creator: Columbia Basin Commission
Description:
This scrapbook was created by the Columbia Basin Commission and includes materials created between 1935 and 1941 to document the construction of the Columbia Basin Project and Grand Coulee Dam. There are 51 pages in this scrapbook. The cover measures 12.25 x 13 inches, and each page measures 11.75 x 11.25. Pages includes photographs, design drawings, and correspondence.
Related Records: For more information, or to learn about related records, contact the Washington State Archives at (360) 586-1492, or email research@sos.wa.gov.
Access Restriction Notes: These records are open for research.
Sources of Transfer State Government Archives
Notes Indexing and digitization completed by Maggie Cogswell, Washington State Archives.
Agency History: In 1903 the United States Bureau of Reclamation made a reconnaissance survey of the Columbia Basin to determine the feasibility of transferring water from the Pend Oreille River in Idaho to the basin. On July 18, 1918, the first proposal to build a dam at the Grand Coulee on the Columbia River for irrigation of the basin lands was published, and in 1919 the Washington State Legislature created the Columbia Basin Survey Commission and appropriated $100,000 for its work. By 1932 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation reported in favor of building a high dam at the Grand Coulee for irrigation of the basin and for the generation of hydroelectric power. In 1933 the State Legislature created the Columbia Basin Commission to replace the Survey Commission and to secure the construction of the Columbia Basin Project. In 1935 the Grand Coulee Project was adopted and approved by Congress and by 1941 the Grand Coulee Dam was completed and began to generate electricity. The Columbia Basin Commission, lacking funds to operate from 1937 to 1942, was reconstituted by the Legislature in 1943 to enable the state to take a more active role in the development of the land and irrigation projects incidental to the completion of the dam. The Commission continued to function until 1967, when it and its parent agency, the Department of Conservation, became defunct.
Preferred Citation: Preferred Citation: Grand Coulee Dam, Columbia Basin Project [Scrapbook], 1935-1941, Columbia Basin Commission, General Files and Photographs, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov, [date accessed].
Record Count: 53