01/18/2025
A LITTLE WINTER READING ANYONE: SOME HISTORY OF DAMS ON THE SPOKANE RIVER AND SOME FACTS ABOUT THE NINE MILE FALLS DAM OVER THE YEARS
The Spokane River, flowing approximately 111 miles from Lake Coeur d’Alene in Idaho to its confluence with the Columbia River in Washington, is harnessed by seven dams. These dams, listed from upstream to downstream, are:
1. Post Falls Dam: Located in Post Falls, Idaho, this concrete gravity dam was completed in 1906. It regulates the outflow from Lake Coeur d’Alene and has a generating capacity of 14.75 megawatts (MW).
2. Upriver Dam: Situated in Spokane, Washington, the original dam was constructed in 1894 and reconstructed in 1933. It serves both hydroelectric generation and water supply purposes, with a capacity of 17.7 MW.
3. Upper Falls Dam: Also in Spokane, this dam was completed in 1922. It contributes to hydroelectric power generation with a capacity of 10 MW.
4. Monroe Street Dam: Located near Spokane’s city center, this dam was originally brought into operation in 1890. It has a generating capacity of 15 MW.
5. Nine Mile Dam: Completed in 1908 near Nine Mile Falls, Washington, this dam has a generating capacity of 26 MW.
6. Long Lake Dam: Also known as Long Lake Dam, it was completed in 1915. This dam creates Long Lake (also known as Lake Spokane) and has a generating capacity of 71 MW.
7. Little Falls Dam: Located near Ford, Washington, this dam was completed between 1907 and 1910. It has a generating capacity of 36 MW.
These dams play crucial roles in hydroelectric power generation, water regulation, and supply for the surrounding regions.
The Nine Mile Dam, located on the Spokane River in Nine Mile Falls, Washington, was completed in 1908. Designed by the New York engineering firm Sanderson & Porter, its primary purpose was to supply electricity to the Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad Company’s 130-mile-long electric railway system.
In 1925, the Washington Water Power Company (now Avista Corporation) acquired the dam and its facilities. To accommodate operational staff, the company constructed ten brick cottages between 1928 and 1929. These one-story residences, featuring large front porches and low-pitched side-gabled roofs, exhibit Craftsman and English Cottage architectural styles. Each cottage includes three bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom, living room, and a small garage. They are situated along a tree-lined road connecting them to the powerhouse, positioned on a basalt bluff overlooking the river.
The dam, powerhouse, and associated cottages were collectively recognized for their historical significance and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
The Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad Company (S.&I.E.R.R.Co.) was an electrified interurban railway operating in Spokane, Washington, and extending into northern and central Idaho. Incorporated in 1904, the system originated from several predecessor roads dating back to around 1890 and operated under its own name until 1929.
Origins and Expansion
One of the earliest components of Spokane’s interurban system was the Spokane and Montrose Street Railway, a narrow-gauge line established by Francis H. Cook in 1893. Following financial difficulties during the Panic of 1893, Cook sold the line in 1902 to a group of Spokane businessmen led by Jay P. Graves. Graves and his partners reorganized the railway as the Spokane Traction Company in 1903 and incorporated it as the Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad Company in 1904, converting it to standard gauge. The routes were extended through various areas of Spokane, including Corbin Park, Hillyard, and Lincoln Heights.
During this period, Idaho lumberman Frederick A. Blackwell organized the Coeur d’Alene and Spokane Railway, which, in conjunction with Graves’ lines, formed a route between Spokane and Lake Coeur d’Alene in northern Idaho. To boost summer and holiday ridership, Graves and Blackwell developed recreational areas along the line, including beaches and amusement parks on Coeur d’Alene, Hayden, and Liberty lakes. The electric railway platform in Coeur d’Alene was built onto the docks to connect with steamboats on Lake Coeur d’Alene.
Together with James J. Hill of the Great Northern Railway, Blackwell and Graves expanded the interurban lines south into the Palouse region, eventually reaching Colfax, Washington, and Moscow, Idaho. This extension operated under the name Spokane and Inland Empire.
Power Supply and Infrastructure
Initially, the Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad purchased power from the Washington Water Power Company. However, in 1909, Graves constructed a hydroelectric dam at Nine Mile Falls, Washington, to supply electricity to both the Spokane Traction Company and the Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad, with surplus power sold locally.
Accidents and Incidents
On July 31, 1909, two Spokane and Inland Empire trains collided head-on at Gibbs, Idaho, near Coeur d’Alene, resulting in 16 fatalities and over 100 injuries. This remains the deadliest railroad accident in Idaho’s history.
Decline and Legacy
The Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad was folded into the Great Northern Railway in 1929. Spokane Traction and its competing passenger lines operated by Washington Water Power were merged in 1922, forming Spokane United Railways. This company began a gradual conversion to bus service, ending electric rail operations in 1936. The last electric line run to Moscow was recorded in April 1939, and the last electric line run to Coeur d’Alene came in July 1940.
Today, remnants of the Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad’s infrastructure remain. The frequency changing station on South Hill has been converted into condominiums, the substation in Coeur d’Alene now houses the Human Rights Education Center, and the car barns in Spokane are occupied by the office of McKinstry Corp. Additionally, several trails, such as the Centennial Trail between Coeur d’Alene and Spokane and the Ben Burr Trail in the Palouse, follow the former Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad right-of-way.
