Swan Falls Dam and Power Plant
About this property
Swan Falls Dam is a concrete gravity type hydroelectric dam in the western United States, on the Snake River in southwestern Idaho, United States. At the dam, the river is the border of Ada and Owyhee counties; it is approximately five miles (8 km) east of Murphy, the seat of Owyhee County. Built 125 years ago in 1901 to generate power, Swan Falls is the oldest hydroelectric dam on the Snake River. In the 1990s, the original power plant was replaced. The dam was built with fish passage facilities, but they proved to be very poor in performance. For this reason, among others, the C. J. Strike Dam, built upriver from Swan Falls in the early 1950s, was not equipped with fish passage facilities. Thus, the two dams combined to become the first artificial barrier to anadromous fish migration up the Snake River. Today, Hells Canyon Dam (1967) is the first total barrier to fish migration on the Snake. Swan Falls Dam and its reservoir lie within the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area; the dam and power plant were listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. HAER No. ID-20, "Swan Falls Dam", 110 photos, 72 data pages, 12 photo caption pages HAER No. ID-20-A, "Swan Falls Dam, Blacksmith Shop & Annex", 15 photos, 12 photo caption pages HAER No. ID-20-B, "Swan Falls Dam, Restroom", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page HAER No. ID-20-C, "Swan Falls Dam, Material Shed", 3 photos, 1 photo caption page HAER No. ID-20-D, "Swan Falls Dam, Storage Shed A", 2 photos, 1 photo caption page HAER No. ID-20-E, "Swan Falls Dam, Raw Stock Storage Crib", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page HAER No. ID-20-F, "Swan Falls Dam, Carpenter Shop", 4 photos, 1 photo caption page HAER No. ID-20-G, "Swan Falls Dam, Wood Shop", 4 photos, 1 photo caption page HAER No. ID-20-H, "Swan Falls Dam, Storage Shed B", 2 photos, 1 photo caption page HAER No. ID-20-I, "Swan Falls Dam, Garage", 2 photos, 1 photo caption page HAER No. ID-20-J, "Swan Falls Dam, House", 2 photos, 1 photo caption page HAER No. ID-20-K, "Swan Falls Dam, A-Frame Crane Gantry", 2 photos, 1 photo caption page
Location
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Swan Falls Dam and Power Plant
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Questions about this property
When was Swan Falls Dam and Power Plant listed on the National Register?
Swan Falls Dam and Power Plant was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 5, 1976.
What type of historic resource is Swan Falls Dam and Power Plant?
Swan Falls Dam and Power Plant is classified as a structure in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Swan Falls Dam and Power Plant?
The period of significance for Swan Falls Dam and Power Plant is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Swan Falls Dam and Power Plant?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Swan Falls Dam and Power Plant will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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