Built 1924 Architectural style Other Opened 1924 Added to NRHP 15 December 1988 | Architect Tacoma Light Dept. NRHP Reference # 88002759 Area 11 ha Nearest city Hoodsport | |
 | ||
Location Mason County, Washington, USA MPS Hydroelectric Power Plants in Washington State, 1890--1938 MPS Similar Cushman No 2 Hydroele, Lake Cushman, High Steel Bridge, Vance Creek Viaduct, Potlatch State Park | ||
Cushman Dam No. 1 is a hydroelectric dam on the North Fork of the Skokomish River in Mason County, Washington, which impounded and enlarged the formerly natural Lake Cushman. It was built by Tacoma City Light (now Tacoma Power) in 1924-1926. Tacoma's demand for electricity grew rapidly after World War I. Tacoma City Light’s Nisqually River Hydroelectric Project, built in 1912, could not meet the demand and the utility decided to build a new hydroelectric project on the North Fork Skokomish River. The dam and powerhouse first began to deliver electricity on February 12, 1926.
Map of Cushman Dam, Hoodsport, WA 98548, USA
It has a concrete arch design and includes 90,000 cubic yards (69,000 m³) of concrete, covering a whole 6,244 feet (1903 m) of water. Two 21,600 kilowatt generators provide 127 million kilowatt-hours annually to the Tacoma Power system.
Construction began on July 7, 1924, under the commissioner Ira S. Davidsson (1918–1940). It has a top width of eight feet (2.4 m) and a base width of 50 feet (15 m), at 275 feet (84 m) high and 1,111 feet (339 m) long. The transmission of electricity to Tacoma, over lines crossing Tacoma Narrows, was activated, or "formally energized", on March 23, 1926, with the push of a button by President Calvin Coolidge in a ceremony at the White House.
A second, smaller dam, Cushman Dam No. 2, 3.2 kilometers (2 miles) downstream of Dam No. 1, was completed by December 1930.