Anacortes Senior College

The National Register listed Skagit Hydroelectric Project and associated Newhalem Creek Hydroelectric Project is an interconnected system of dams and municipally owned company towns. Developed over a 50-year span beginning in 1918 the projects are inextricably linked, both historically and physically, to the development of publicly owned hydroelectric power for the city of Seattle.

Join Jesse G. Kennedy III, Ph.D. as he shares stories and images of the people and construction of the projects.

Laying the Groundwork – Week 1

• Where do you put a dam? The preparatory work necessary before dam construction could begin and the first dam: Newhalem Creek.

We’re in it Now: Gorge and Diablo – Week 2

• How many Gorge Dams were there? Gorge Dam and the unexpected problem that could have sunk the project. Beautiful Diablo Dam and the tiled fishpond in its powerhouse lobby.

Why did Ruby Dam Become Ross Dam? The Man Behind the Curtain: J. D. Ross – Week 3

• Have you ever noticed the front of Ross Dam? Stories about the man Franklin Delano Roosevelt called, “One of the greatest Americans of our Generation.”

Instructor: Jesse G. Kennedy III PhD   

Following twenty years of university teaching, Jesse worked in cultural resource management for North Cascades National Park Service Complex for more than twenty-six years. A Pacific Northwest native, he became the first Chief of Cultural Resource Management at the park in 1995 and continues to explore the history of Skagit County and the North Cascades through the images, stories, and structures of this heroic environment.