The Dam that Changed Chelan
A century before global tourism and high-end resorts, the citizens of Chelan banded together to dam the river for basic infrastructure.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
C. Robinson, one of Chelan's most enterprising and respected citizens, was down to the Falls on Saturday last, and in an interview stated that arrangements have been made for putting in a dam across the Chelan River some distance below the outlet of the lake, and that work on this important improvement will begin this week. Mr. Robinson and Mr. H. H. Wheeler will be associated in the work of the dam, and the citizens of Chelan have already subscribed some as a bonus, realizing that it will be of more benefit to them than anything heretofore undertaken. The primary ambition is to furnish the town of Chelan with first-class water works and electric lights, and to furnish power at reasonable rates to meet all demands. The dam will probably be built high enough to hold the waters of the lake at high water mark, thus being able to furnish an abundance of water all the year.
“The citizens of Chelan have already subscribed some as a bonus, realizing that it will be of more benefit to them than anything heretofore undertaken.”
This 1892 effort to harness the Chelan River for power and light marks the beginning of the industrial modernization of the region. Today, Lake Chelan remains a central point of tension between utility, environmental conservation, and the massive tourism economy that defines the area.
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