Grand Coulee, WA

Grand Coulee grew as one of the towns serving workers building the Columbia Basin Project, and its layout makes more sense when you look downhill toward the Columbia. The city sits above Grand Coulee Dam at the northern end of the canyon, with the ground dropping toward Crescent Bay and Lake Roosevelt. Grand Coulee was incorporated in 1935; the dam was built between 1933 and 1941 and combines hydropower, irrigation, flood control, navigation, fish-migration measures, and recreation. The dam complex supplies the region's institutional and working backdrop, alongside Coulee Community Hospital and the Midway Avenue and Main Street business district. Grand Coulee Dam School District serves the community, giving this small city a direct relationship with one of the Northwest's defining infrastructure projects.