Snoqualmie Falls
Hydroelectric
Project
HSR
Snoqualmie Falls
Washington
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Snoqualmie Falls Hydroelectric Project HSR
Snoqualmie Falls Washington
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Client :
Puget Sound Energy
Project Overview
This Historic Structures Report was undertaken to document the history and existing conditions as well as to provide preservation treatment recommendations for five buildings at the Snoqualmie Falls Project. The report is one of many efforts that the company is undertaking to integrate current planning objectives, power generation requirements, preservation issues, and re-use of historically significant resources within the National Register Historic District. Other related efforts include photographic and video documentation and aesthetic, interpretation, education, and recreation plans.
A great deal has previously been written and documented about the Snoqualmie Falls Project. Beginning at its inception in 1898 and continuing through today, studies encompassed history of the site and its resources and the industrial development of hydroelectric power generation.
The five buildings addressed in this project have varied histories and significance, and have played separate but intertwined roles in the development of the Snoqualmie Falls Project. The two cast-in-place buildings, the Power House and Gatehouse, were primary structures in the expansion of the project in 1910, and again in 1957. In contrast, two of the wood-framed structures, the West Garage and the Carpenter’s Shop located at Plant 1, were constructed as ancillary structures to support the early development of the plant, circa 1900, and provide enclosed storage and warehouse space. The fifth building, a small wood-framed shed to the south of the Plant 2 Power House was constructed as a support structure sometime before 1937.
As the demand for power grew, the Snoqualmie Falls Hydroelectric Project was established at the end of the 19th century to supply electrical power to the cities of Seattle, Tacoma, and several smaller communities. Charles H. Baker, an engineer who had worked previously for the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railroad conceived of developing a hydroelectric plant at Snoqualmie Falls and gaining control of Seattle's streetcar system.
Construction of the Snoqualmie Falls project began in April 1898. This first generating plant was located in a cavity 270 feet beneath the Snoqualmie River, 300 feet upriver from the edge of the falls. A transformer house, machine shop, and office were constructed at this location. The project also included a concrete gravity dam, intake, penstocks, and tailrace.