HistoryLink.org
By Phil Dougherty
The Dalles Lock and Dam (The Dalles Dam) is one of the 10 largest producers of hydroelectric power in the United States. Since its first generator went online in 1957, the dam has produced more than 9.2 billion kilowatt hours of electricity. Today [2021], its 22 generators in its 2,089-foot-long powerhouse produce enough electricity to power 800,000 homes. The dam is the second of eight on the Columbia-Snake Inland Waterway, a 465-mile river highway that allows barge transport of cargo between the Pacific Ocean and Lewiston, Idaho. Located east of The Dalles, Oregon, it stretches nearly a mile and a half across the Columbia River and the Oregon-Washington state line, forming Lake Celilo behind it.