The Lewis River Hydroelectric Projects - PacifiCorp

Merwin Park—Interpretive sign #1 (Hydroelectric Story)
Location:
Size:
Title:
Main
Content:
Merwin Park
TBD
Power From the River
By the first decade of the 20 th century, plans were being made to harness
the Lewis River to generate hydroelectricity for a growing industrialized
Pacific Northwest. The electricity was needed to power an explosion of
new technology: lights, stoves, manufacturing equipment—even
locomotives. With its favorable grade, heavy precipitation, and proximity
to Vancouver, Tacoma, and Seattle the Lewis River was considered an
excellent source of hydropower.
Between 1929 and 1958, four hydroelectric projects were constructed
along the Lewis River, forming three large reservoirs. Today, the power
of the Lewis River’s flow provides electricity to the Pacific Northwest and
beyond. The four Lewis River projects are an important part of a electrical
distribution system that stretches across the American West.
Main
Captions:
Illustration of Thomas Edison and lightbulb
Thomas Edison first demonstrated the incandescent light in the 1880s,
marking the beginning of the era of public electrification. Hydropower
was one of the first methods used for generating electricity on a large
scale.
Period illustration of electrical equipment from turn of the century
In 1889, the first commercial long-distance electric transmission lines in
the world carried power from Willamette Falls to Portland.
Old map showing historical location of Ariel and relocated site
Merwin Dam was originally called Ariel Dam, for the nearby town of
Ariel. Ariel was established in 1899, a short distance upriver. When dam
construction began in 1929, Pacific Light and Power moved the Ariel post
office and general store below the construction site.
Image of L.T. Merwin
In 1948, Ariel Dam was re-named Merwin Dam, for L.T. Merwin of the
Northwestern Electric Company.
Sidebar:
In the 1920s, Inland Light and Power (later to become Pacific Power and
Light, and eventually PacifiCorp) began surveying, then buying, lands in
the area above Shirt-tail Canyon, in the region that would eventually be
flooded by Merwin Reservoir. This area had been settled by several
homesteaders in the late 1800s. As lands were purchased, the valley’s
inhabitants began to migrate to other locations.
Appendix 1: panel profiles Lewis River Draft I&E Plan page 11