This cache is part of the Foundation for Water & Energy Education (FWEE) Hydro Cache Challenge. Visit 7 participating sites and you’ll receive a FWEE Hydro Cache Challenge patch! Enter by going to http://fwee.org/nw-hydro-tours/fwee-hydro-cache-challenge/
It was 1932. The good times and confidence of the 1920’s were gone, replaced by depression and despair. In the Pacific Northwest the timber industry had collapsed - 80% of the mills had closed and thousands of people were out of work.
While campaigning for President, Franklin Roosevelt visited Portland and promised a New Deal to the unemployed workers. His proposed solution was the implementation of the 308 report, a study that had been completed by the Corps of Engineers in 1931. This report called for 10 dams to be built on the Columbia River in order to harness its enormous hydroelectric possibilities. After his election, Roosevelt’s interest in the dam waned somewhat because money for the project was scarce, rock at the originally proposed site was unstable, and Grand Coulee Dam was judged to be a higher priority. But after further study, a plan to move the proposed sight to Bonneville, and strong lobbying by Oregon Senator Charles McNary and Congressman Charles Martin, Roosevelt’s promises were fulfilled when the Public Works Administration authorized Federal Works Project No. 28.
Work on Bonneville Dam began a month and a half later on November 17, 1933. Three thousand workers worked on the project. With unskilled workers earning $.50 an hour and skilled workers $1.10 an hour, the project represented a return from financial despair to gainful employment. Roosevelt dedicated the dam on September 27, 1937.
The products of their hard work lie around you as you seek the Bonneville Landmark Cache. Bonneville Lock and Dam was placed on the National Register of Historic Places as an historic district in June 1986. It has also been designated as a National Historic Landmark. The district, which covers 97 acres, consists of seven parts: administration building, auditorium, spillway dam, powerhouse, navigation lock, fish hatchery, and landscaping. Bonneville’s significance is based on the Colonial-Revival style architecture of the administration building and auditorium, the unique engineering design, the contribution to the region’s industrial development, the lock’s role in transportation, the entrance landscaping, and the role of Bonneville as a major government undertaking in the 1930s to provide jobs during the Great Depression.
Bonneville Lock and Dam is open to visitors from 9 AM to 5 PM daily (except New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas). The cache location is available during these hours, and there is parking nearby. This cache has been placed with the knowledge and approval of the Bonneville Park Manager. Please respect all signage regarding roads not open to the public.
The site of the cache is wheelchair accessible, although reaching the cache may be difficult from a wheelchair.
For Handicapped ratings please see: http://www.handicaching.com/show.php?waypoint=GC1C0JJ