A history of housing and activities for USBR employees

I am a former graduate of Coulee Dam High School and read with interest the article on lack of housing or activities for employees at the dam.

In the 1950s this was a problem, too, and the USBR provided a dorm for the single employees. Many of our teachers boarded there. As for activities … everyone in the community attended all the school games, concerts, plays, the movies changed three times a week, there were tennis courts (six of them), a swimming pool, plus all the water recreation behind the dam, sledding in the winter and ice skating on the tennis courts … it was a garden of activities!

It is all there … just needs to be promoted. It is a great place to live!

Also … wanted to express my sympathy to the family of Mary Ann Henke McNeilly. She was a lovely lady and high school friend. We kept in touch during the years she lived in Seattle, but lost track of each other until meeting again at the Class of 1953 Reunion in Coulee Dam. I still have her wedding photo! She was a beautiful bride!

Donna Cunning