Exhibit hallmarks life of Condit Dam

One hundred and twenty five foot tall Condit Dam and its 14.7 megawatt powerhouse were constructed on the White Salmon River of south central Washington during the 11 month period spanning spring of 1912 to the spring of 1913.

It was the very first large-scale hydropower project in the southern Cascade Range of Washington. The project was backed by two San Francisco millionaires who were the financial levers behind both the Crown Willamette Paper Mills in Camas and the Northwestern Electric Company of Portland.

Although the original purpose of the plant was to provide power to the Camas mills, the cities of Portland and Vancouver soon signed municipal power franchises with Northwestern Electric.

Thus Condit has played a leading role in the development of the Pacific Northwest economy since 1913, and has led the way to construction of even larger dams, powerplants and transmission facilities in the Columbia River basin.

Recently, Condit Dam has been in the local and regional news consequent to PacifiCorp's (current owner) plans to decommission the project in the fall of 2006.

Fortunately, PacifiCorp has maintained a large collection of early photos taken during construction of the 125 foot tall dam, 14.7 megawatt powerhouse and mile-long wooden pipeline.

This collection will serve as the backbone of the coming exhibit. Project organizers are nevertheless very interested in uncovering other local historic photos, mementos, letters and records involving Condit Dam's colorful history.

People willing to share historic information related to the history of Condit Dam, or those just wanting more information on the display project, are asked to contact Steve Stampfli at the USFWS Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery Information and Education Office in Underwood at 493-2934.