Coulee Dam, WA

Coulee Dam is a three-county town built around the Grand Coulee Dam project, with pieces in Douglas, Grant, and Okanogan counties. The 2020 census counted 1,211 residents. The town was founded in 1933 as the construction headquarters for the dam, while the Okanogan County side was first known as Mason City. That origin is still visible in the town's unusual shape: county lines, federal work, and a giant river project all meet in one small place. Grand Coulee Dam forms Lake Roosevelt, a 151-mile reservoir with a long recreation shoreline, and Coulee Dam is also the headquarters for Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area.

The Grand Coulee Dam School District keeps the school map local, while the Colville Reservation reaches into the Okanogan County side of town. The dam supplies the big regional story, but the town itself is made of worker-era streets, administrative buildings, river roads, and the wide-open landscapes around the reservoir. Coulee Dam's local scoop is a purpose-built dam town that grew into a gateway for the lake behind it.