WAUGillHiramCPHColl046.xmlGuide to the Hiram C. Gill Masonry Dam Construction Photograph Album 1911-1914Gill (Hiram C.) Masonry Dam Construction Photograph AlbumSpecial Collections, University of Washington Libraries©2008 (Last modified: 7/29/2021)
Seattle, WA 98195
Finding aid written in English.Finding aid based on DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard).University of Washington Libraries, Special CollectionsPH0046Gill, Hiram C.Hiram C. Gill Masonry Dam Construction photograph album1911-191489 photographic prints in an album (1 box) ; various sizesCollection materials are in English.Photographs of the site and construction of the Masonry Dam on the Cedar River

The Cedar River Masonry Dam, in the U.S. state of Washington, was built between 1911 and 1914, and the Chester Morse Lake filled between 1914 and 1918. When completed, the crest of the dam stood 1600 feet above sea level. Throughout construction, a twelve-foot opening had remained at the bottom of the dam, enabling water to pass through the opening during construction. After construction the water continued to collect in the basin behind the dam and began seeping through the north bank of the reservoir. The bank could not be sealed because of a glacial moraine, and water continued to escape. This caused the level of water in Rattlesnake Lake to rise, resulting in the 1915 flooding of the town of Moncton. Later in December 1918, a hillside blew out at Boxley Creek destroying the mill town of Edgewick on Christmas Eve 1918.

Hiram C. Gill was the Mayor of Seattle at the time of the Masonry Dam construction. He first ran on a platform of strong opposition to municipal ownership of utilities such as this project. Later in his reelection to his second and third terms he discontinued his active obstruction to the utility. James Delmage (J. D.) Ross was appointed to City Light soon after it's inception in 1911. Ross, often called the "Father of City Light", helped design and build the project and power plant at Cedar Falls on the Cedar River. This album was probably a presentation to Gill when he was reelected during 1916 third term.

Album of photographs documenting site and construction of the Masonry Dam on the Cedar River.

Information about the photographs was collected from captions on photos and from Cristy Lake, Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum.

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The collection is open to the public.

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Processed by Christy Lake, 2011 and Melody Hauf 2012; processing completed 2012.

Page 11-12 is broken and has come loose from the album binding.

Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)Photograph albumsPublic UtilitiesPhotographs

 

Album1-21-2Cedar Lake before construction of damcirca 191133Upper Cedar FallsMarch 17, 1914 4-54-5Seattle City Light’s first timber crib dam on the Cedar River at camp 2 approximately one-half mile below Cedar Lakecirca 1911 66aTwo part panorama of Mount Si camp 2 homes and camp buildings at proposed site of Masonry Dam located between crib dam and powerhouse at Cedar FallsDecember 12, 1911 66bCofferdam camp 2 construction siteNovember 18, 1911 77aMasonry Dam construction sitecirca 191177bLooking toward Cedar Lake at Masonry Dam siteDecember 12, 191177cTwo part panorama at Masonry Dam looking toward Cedar LakeJanuary 26, 1912 88aTwo part panorama of Mill PondJanuary 26, 1912 88bCofferdam discharge pipeline construction at Masonry DamMarch 26, 1912 88cWorkers removing rock beside cofferdam discharge pipeline construction at Masonry DamMarch 26, 1912 99aMan standing on cofferdam pipe discharge at Masonry DamApril 16, 1912 99bPacific rail spur Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad line connection and Cedar Falls Depotcirca 1912 99cWorkers with small railcar hoppers removing rock around cofferdam discharge pipeline at Masonry DamApril, 16, 1912 99dProgress on the Pacific spur line connection and Cedar Falls Depot at Masonry DamApril 22, 19131010aWorkers removing rock at construction area beside cofferdam discharge pipeline at Masonry DamOctober 17, 1912 1010bGroup of men inside the Cedar Falls Powerhouse at Masonry DamOctober 17, 1912 1010cWorkers removing rock from the cofferdam discharge pipeline work site at Masonry DamOctober 17, 1912 1010dWorkers inside the Cedar Falls Powerhouse at Masonry DamOctober 17, 1912 1111aConstruction area beside the cofferdam discharge pipe structure at Masonry Dam PowerhouseDecember 8, 19121111bSnow covered construction at Masonry DamJanuary 9, 1913 1111cConstruction area beside the cofferdam discharge pipe structureDecember 8, 19121212aSnow covered road through forest to damcirca January 19131212bHorses on snow covered road at Masonry Dam camp 2January 18, 19131212cSnow covered buildings at Masonry Dam camp 2January 18, 19131212dGravel train fitted with snow plow and moving through snowJanuary 18, 1913 1313aIcicles on discharge pipe at the cofferdamJanuary 18, 19131313bConcrete pouring through structureJanuary 18, 19131313cView of construction from down stream at Masonry DamMarch 18, 19131313dMen at entrance to concrete tunnel at Masonry DamApril 7, 1913 1414aTwo part panorama of Masonry Damcirca April 19131414bLooking east upstream at Masonry DamApril 22, 1913 1414cView from down stream at Masonry DamMay 17, 19131515a-bConstruction progress at Masonry DamMay 17, 1913 1616aInterior of dining hall for construction workers at Masonry Dam camp 2May 17, 1913 1616bKitchen in dining hall for construction workers at Masonry Dam camp 2May 17, 1913 1717aMen digging at entrance to concrete tunnel head at Masonry DamApril 22, 1913 1717b-dConstruction at Masonry DamJune 13, 1913 to October 16, 2013 1818Two part panorama of cliff of construction progress at Masonry Dam camp 2October 16, 1913 19-2019-20Construction at Masonry DamJanuary 19, 1914 2121Tunnel head gate house construction at Masonry DamJanuary 19, 1914 2222Construction at Masonry DamJanuary 19, 19142323Construction at Masonry DamMarch 17, 19142424Two part panorama of construction at Masonry DamMarch 17, 1914 2525Construction at Masonry DamApril 18, 19142626Two part panorama construction at Masonry DamApril 18, 191427-2827-28Construction at Masonry DamApril 18, 19142929Group of men at Masonry Dam construction siteApril 18, 1914 3030Two part panorama of construction at Masonry DamMay 17, 19143131Sloped face construction of Masonry DamJune 3, 1914 3232Two part panorama of construction at Masonry DamJune 3, 1914 3333Construction at Masonry DamJune 3, 19143434View of construction from ground level at Masonry Damcirca June 1914 3535New Cedar River Bridge under construction at Masonry DamJune 6, 1914 3636Two part panorama of construction at Masonry DamJuly 8, 19143737Ground level view of construction and workers at Masonry DamJuly 8, 19143838Two part panorama of construction progress at Masonry DamAugust 8, 1914 39-4039-40Construction at Masonry DamJuly 8, 191441-4241-42Sloping face of Masonry Dam construction showing forms and equipment along on the side of damAugust 7, 1914 4343Men working on construction of Masonry DamAugust 7, 1914 4444Bridge form under construction over Cedar River at Masonry DamAugust 7, 1914 4545View along top of concrete structures under construction at Masonry DamSeptember 23, 1914 4646Bridge form under construction over Cedar River at Masonry DamSeptember 23, 1914 4747Sloping face and pipeline of Masonry DamOctober 18, 19144848Two part panorama of construction at Masonry DamOctober 18, 19144949Construction of tunnel head at Masonry DamOctober 18, 1914 5050Construction of tunnel head with pipeline trestle to support pipes at Masonry DamOctober 18, 1914 5151Interior of empty pipe at Masonry DamOctober 18, 1914 5252Construction for large pipe at Masonry DamOctober 18, 1914 5353Sloping face and construction at Masonry DamNovember 6, 19145454Construction at Masonry DamNovember 6, 1914 5555Construction at Masonry Dam from ground level viewNovember 6, 1914 5656Two part panorama of Masonry Dam and water flowing through pipeNovember 6, 191457-5857-58Masonry Dam with water filling in Chester Morse LakeNovember 6-25, 19145959Two men inside pipeline valves at Masonry DamNovember 25, 1914 6060Completed Cedar River bridge at Masonry DamNovember 25, 1914