Joseph Beckman Photographs of Long Lake Dam Construction

Joseph Beckman Photographs of Long Lake Dam Construction, 1910-1915

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Beckman, Joseph
Title: Joseph Beckman Photographs of Long Lake Dam Construction
Dates: 1910-1915 (inclusive)
19101915
Quantity: .25 Linear Feet of Shelf Space, (1 box), (150 images)
Collection Number: PC 135 (collection)
Summary: The collections consists of 150 photographs and postcards from the construction of Long Lake Dam, dating from approximately 1910-1914. Long Lake Dam is located approximately 25 miles northeast of Spokane, Washington on the Spokane River. Joseph Beckman worked on its construction.
Repository: Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Terrell Library Suite 12
Pullman, WA
99164-5610
Telephone: 509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Access Restrictions: This collection is open and available for research use.
Languages: English

Historical NoteReturn to Top

Long Lake Dam is located approximately 25 miles northeast of Spokane, Washington on the Spokane River. This facility was believed to have the highest spillway (170 feet) and largest turbines in the world when it was finished in 1915 by the Washington Water Power Company, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Long Lake, behind the dam, is also known today as Lake Spokane. Joseph Beckman worked on its construction.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collections consists of approximately 150 photographs and postcards from the construction of Long Lake Dam (near Spokane, WA), dating from approximately 1910-1914. The majority of the images deal with the construction of the dam proper, though a small number deal with the worker's relaxation activities or with local natives. A very few images may deal with nearby Little Falls Dam. Also included in the collection is one two-page 1959 letter which serves as a brief biography of Beckman. The images are in no particular order. Approximately 90% of the images are labeled, but less than a fifth are dated.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Preferred Citation

[Item Description] Joseph Beckman Photographs of Long Lake Dam Construction, 1910-1915 (PC 135)

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

This collection was received as MS 88-37 at WSU Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections on September 16th, 1988 from Mrs. James Menzies (nee Marian Beckman). The photographs had apparently been compiled by Joseph "Joe" Carl Beckman, and his wife, Eunice Coffman Beckman (d. 1976-12-21).

Processing Note

This collection was processed by University Archivist Mark O'English in January, 2010. Catherine Kenney of Avista scanned the images in August of 2016, providing brief identification and description for the unlabeled items. WSU History student Samantha Case incorporated those descriptions into this finding aid in November of 2016.

Separated Materials

The collection initially included approximately 50 additional photographs from WSC ca. 1910-1912, and a dozen or so pieces of ephemera or minor WSC publications. These were separated out, and interfiled into the Historical WSU Photographs Subject File (PC 2), ephemera collection, and appropriate places in the WSU Publications collection.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Container(s)	Description
item
1	Man in front of house - D.B. Ludwick, 1912-09-01
2	Men on headgate 3 - Hans Anderson, A. O. Strauck, Jack Mintz, Joe Beckman, George Cowling, Joe Primiano
3	High water running over temporary coffer dam in the canyon
4	View looking upriver from head tower of #1 cableway
5	Unknown building (not digitized)
6	Men painting racks - Beckman
7	Powerhouse, showing first steel columns and girders in place, October 1913
8	Excavation, 1912-11-29
9	Excavation Site for spillway dam, 1912-11-29
10	Front of spillway dam showing four undersluices discharging
11	Temporary spillway
12	View of arched cut-off dam from upstream side
13	Headgate dam
14	South side start of tunnel work, 1911-04-15
15	Construction from a distance
16	Rock bottom of dam
17	Broken Piers, 1914-04-08
18	Top of headgate dam (not digitized)
19	View upstream from just above railroad bridge (not digitized)
20	Cover house for coffer dam construction (not digitized)
21	Looking east from tail tower (not digitized)
22	Looking upstream from riverbank opposite club (not digitized)
23	Powerlines to substation
24	Cable Bridge
25	Spud and Braggo - Little Falls
26	Foundation
27	Road at start of construction
28	Cabins
29	Aerial view of construction
30	Native Americans and men
31	View of generator room from switchyard gallery, 1914-10-14
32	Powerhouse construction
33	Gage board, showing hand pump
34	Location of gage board
35	Taken at Long Lake, Aug 1913
36	View upriver from head towers
37	Powerhouse Scaffolding
38	Men on road
39	Ross Park Steam Plant
40	Baseball game - 3rd base line
41	Headgate 3
42	Baseball game
43	View of piers and spillway
44	Men in village
45	Right side of headgate dam
46	Bartlett House
47	Assembling of penstocks and sections after riveting, 1914-03-10
48	Bright day in powerhouse
49	Two men at house
50	Village
51	Men by spillway during construction
52	Looking downstream over headgate dam
53	WSC group
54	Clubhouse
55	Pre-construction
56	Tainter gates
57	Looking upstream
58	View of valley where dam now stands
59	Penstock and men
60	Four men
61	Unknown man
62	View of turbine room
63	Water rheostat
64	Steel distributing tower
65	Camp, labeled 1-6
66	Spillway dam, Oct 1914
67	Native Americans on horseback
68	Teepee
69	Headgate operating mechanism
70	View inside penstock
71	Construction
72	Tunnel to cable ways
73	Pre-construction view
74	Start of construction
75	Coffer dam, labeled 1-4
76	Construction 1913, labeled a-d
77	Cable towers and concrete boxes
77	Concrete mixer
78	LL Penstock Install Internal
79	Headgates
80	Construction, August 1913
81	Tunnel outlet just before closed
82	Top view of early construction
83	Penstock under construction
84	Cement squares
85	Construction from above
86	The works
87	Construction scaffolding, 1913
88	Gravel pit for excavation
89	Scaffolds on spillway
90	Tail tower of Unit 4
91	Unit 2 penstock
92	Deflection dam
93	Upstream view of construction
94	Penstock sections
95	Construction scaffolding, 1912-09-29
96	Headgate penstock install
97	Looking upstream showing completed crest
98	Labeled view of main dam
99	View of rock bottom
100	Looking upstream past broken pier in the spillway dam
101	Arch cutoff dam
102	View from bridge
103	General view of power plant looking upriver
104	Panorama, 1912-12-14
105	Spillway scaffolding
106	Penstock construction, 11-18-1914
107	Generator install
108	Spillway construction
109	Penstock install
110	Group at powerhouse
111	Looking north, Long Lake Dam
112	Steam shovel, 09-07
113	Dam from tail towers, 09-07-1913
114	Spillway
115	Men and tent
116	Headgate hoist
117	Powerhouse construction labeled A-E
118	Men by powerhouse
119	Group photo: Long Lake construction
119	Men in powerhouse
120	Railroad construction
121	Railroad and construction
122	View of railroad and cables
123	Powerhouse controls
124	Entrance tunnel view
125	Construction on rocks
126	People labeled
127	Head tower of no. 4 cableway
128	Penstock towers
129	Pitot tube
130	Unit 1 erection
131	Penstock entrance
132	Tops of gates
133	Headgate dam and inspection tunnel forms
134	People touring
135	Piezometer and bypass
136	Vertical pitot tube
137	Early construction
138	Testing outfit
139	Headgates labeled
140	Looking upstream at dam, 1913-09-07
141	Men with powerhouse coils
142	Bed of river with workers
143	View of intake tunnel from river valley, 1911-10-30
144	Steam shovel and crew at gravel pit
145	Generators
146	Back of headgate dam
147	Spillway and penstock construction
148	Little Falls construction
149	Unit one operation, Little Falls
150	Post Street
151-152	Letter (2 pages)

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