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Nine Mile Dam

The Nine Mile Hydroelectric Power Plant Historic District is the main attraction, comprised of the Nine Mile Dam, completed in 1908 to supply power to the 130-mile-long electric railway system of the Spokane & Inland Empire Railroad Company, and a series of brick cottages that were built to house power plant personnel. The district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and Washington Heritage Register.

Washington Water Power purchased the development in 1925, and the brick cottages, constructed just northwest of the dam, were built between 1928 and 1930. In addition to Nine Mile Dam and worker cottages, there are some additional sites to note.

Points of Interest Points of Interest icon

Deep Creek Canyon

Deep Creek Canyon, a deep gash cut by the force of glacial water. Egg-shaped boulders balance on end, and needles of basaltic stone, left by the rushing waters, rise above the level of the canyon floor. The little creek at the bottom is almost lost at times among the rock formations; finally it emerges, eddying swiftly over smooth, round boulders and tumbling in a series of cataracts over the jagged rocks below. This creek rises on the west slope of Maverick Peak in the Entiat Mountain range and flows southwest to the Entiat River in central Chelan County. It was named by U.S. Forest Supervisor A. H. Sylvester, not for its depth, but because it flows through a deep gorge.

Spokane House site

This was the earliest post of the North West Fur Company in Washington. Spokane House was established in 1810 under orders from David Thompson, the surveyor, and for nearly 16 years bartered for the furs of the wilderness. In 1821 the North West Company united with the Hudson’s Bay Company, and in 1826 the business of the post was transferred to Fort Colvile (not to be confused with military post Fort Colville) (see Tour 5). A journal of March 21, 1826, states: “The blacksmith and cook, the only two men we have now here, employed collecting all the iron about the place, stripping the hinges off the doors…” The story of Spokane House is told at the Spokane House Interpretive Center in Riverside State Park, off SR 291.

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