Coulee Dam is an town in Okanogan County, Washington. The Douglas County portion of Coulee Dam is part of the Wenatchee–East Wenatchee Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,098 as of the 2010 census.
History[]
Coulee Dam was founded by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in 1933, to serve as headquarters for the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam. The Okanogan County portion was known as Mason City, location of the head contractor. The Portions in Douglas and Grant Counties was known as Engineers Town and was government owned. In 1942 with the end of the contract in sight, CBI transferred control of Mason City to the Municipal Division of the Columbia Basin Project. In 1948 Mason City was incorporated into Coulee Dam. Government began the process of selling the town to the public in 1957, finishing in 1959. Coulee Dam was officially incorporated as a town on February 26, 1959.
It is the headquarters of Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, and home of one of the world's largest man-made piles of sand, a 12,000,000-cubic-yard (9,200,000 m3), 230-foot (70 m)-high hill remaining from dam construction.
Geography[]
The Okanogan County portion lies within the Colville Indian Reservation, and forms the southern limit of the Okanogan Highlands.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.78 square miles, of which, 0.72 square miles is land and 0.06 square miles is water.
Coulee Dam is located at 47°58′6″N 118°58′41″W (47.968467, -118.978162).
Climate[]
This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Coulee Dam has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.