Coulee Dam is a town in Douglas, Grant, and Okanogan counties in the state of Washington. The Douglas County portion of Coulee Dam is part of the Wenatchee–East Wenatchee Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,211 as of the 2020 census.
History
thumb|Dam under construction, possibly around 1937
Coulee Dam was founded by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in 1933, to serve as headquarters for the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam. The Okanogan County portion was known as Mason City, location of the head contractor. The portions in Douglas and Grant Counties were known as Engineers Town and were government-owned. In 1942, with the end of the contract in sight, CBI transferred control of Mason City to the Municipal Division of the Columbia Basin Project. In 1948, Mason City was incorporated into Coulee Dam. The government began the process of selling the town to the public in 1957, finishing in 1959. Coulee Dam was officially incorporated as a town on February 26, 1959.
It is the headquarters of Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area and home to one of the world's largest man-made piles of sand, a , -high hill remaining from dam construction.
Geography
The Okanogan County portion lies within the Colville Indian Reservation, and forms the southern limit of the Okanogan Highlands.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, is land and is water.
Climate
This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Coulee Dam has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.