Loading map...

1948 Map of Grand Coulee Dam

Name: 1948 Topographic Map of Grand Coulee Dam
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1955
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1955

About this map

Grand Coulee Dam dominates the northern edge of this post-war landscape, marking a massive engineering shift for the Columbia River and the surrounding plateau. The map captures the newly formed Franklin D Roosevelt Lake and the Franklin D Roosevelt Lake National Recreational Area, showing the inundation of the river valley. On the northern shore, the Colville Indian Reservation extends across a landscape of sharp relief, defined by features like Mica Mtn and Sugarloaf.

South of the dam, the town of Grand Coulee and the planned settlement of Coulee Dam represent the era's rapid industrial and residential growth. Moving further into the basalt-coulee country, small communities and rail points like Bagdad Junction and Klobuchar appear alongside local landmarks such as the Grand Coulee Grange. This survey also documents the infrastructure of the burgeoning regional power grid, specifically the Bonneville Power Transmission Lines cutting across the high plains.