This is a great shot of a temporary trailer park at the Glen Canyon Dam construction site. I don’t have any information about when it was built, why, or how long it was there. I do know it was temporary because it sits on part of the spot where the conveyor belts for delivering the aggregate to the batch plant were eventually built. They would have been just to the right of this picture, and probably would have extended into the picture a little.
It’s a good look at the Beehive from the north. It doesn’t look like the canyon side of the Beehive has been removed yet, but it’s hard to tell. The bridge isn’t there yet, but construction is underway. On the left side of the picture, you can see the top of the left spillway. Also, along the highway, that large building that was used as some kind of laydown yard is framed, but not finished yet. If you zoom in, you can see the water tower in town. It’s also a good shot of LeChee. The buildings on the left side of Manson Mesa may be the corals and drive-in theater.
Ok, back to the trailer park. Does anyone know what the white buildings were? I’d give good money for the Willy’s jeep. The boat without a trailer is classy. Enjoy!
Date and Photographer Unknown, but from the 1950s Source: Terry Edwards
I have to admit to not remembering Page’s first water treatment plant being at the bottom of the canyon. When Gene LeGate gave me the first bunch of USBR photos for the blog and I saw these water treatment pics, I was dazed and confused because I could only remember the water treatment plant in town and those photos were completely different. After some research, I surmised that it sat downstream of the dam on the Page side of the canyon. Can’t fool me! What sealed it for me (sort of) was the first photo I’m sharing below that Tim McDaniels gave me that shows the road to it coming out of what must be one of the adits in the canyon wall that now serves as one of the ventilation tunnels for the tunnel that runs from the top of the canyon and to the lower spillway. If that’s incorrect, please let me know. I can take it. I’m still not 100% convinced because some of the background stuff in these pictures doesn’t look right. More on that as we move through them.
This first picture is a shot from above showing the layout of the area. This is the one Tim sent me that pretty much clinched the location. Notice the water line coming over the side of the canyon. That’s the line that brought water to the fledgling town of Page. It’s referenced in another picture below. Notice also the road disappearing into the canyon wall. The handwritten caption on the back reads, “J. Reinhold. 1st water treatment plant for Page.”
Photo: USBR Date: 5/14/63 Source: Tim McDaniels
Here’s another top down view from a different, closer angle. In this shot, the facility is still under construction. The rectangle building was an electrical switchgear and maybe a pump room. The handwritten back caption reads, “Water pumps and sedimentary tank on river below Page.”
Photo: A. E. Turner, USBR Undated Source: The LeGate Family
This photo is undated, but I think it must be 1957ish. The handwritten caption on the back reads,
“In bottom of canyon upstream from bridge. Concrete form for diversion tunnel shown here. To the bottom left is tunnel (mile plus long) which will connect the power house to top of canyon wall and to Page.”
There are a couple of things that need pointed out on this photo. The writing I cited above mentions a diversion tunnel and a tunnel that goes to the top of the canyon wall. Those are two different things. The opening mentioned on the left of the picture is the bottom of the tunnel that runs from there to the top of the canyon and comes out behind the old Country Club an golf course. That tunnel is still in use. The lower opening to the tunnel that you see in this picture is now on the downstream side of the dam and comes out near the power house. The next time you’re there, look down and you’ll see it. It’s interesting that the back caption says this tunnel WILL connect the top to the bottom, as it was still under construction at the time of this photo.
The concrete form mentioned in the picture is the round object on the right. There were two diversion tunnels that re-directed the Colorado River water around the dam site during construction. In future posts, I’ll be sharing some pictures with you of construction inside those diversion tunnels, as well as the upper spillways which connected to the diversion tunnels.
Notice the roadway in the center of the bridge and the road protruding out from the canyon on the right side. The present-day visitor’s center is located on the right side of this picture by the road. Also notice the netting that hung off the bottom of the bridge to catch falling workers and material. The cables that spanned the canyon are clearly visible and it looks like there is another roadway support being set at the time of this photo. This view is long gone!
Photo: F. S. Finch, USBR 4/27/1957 Source: The LeGate Family The back of the photo reads, “Small tunnel in keyway. Used for what I don’t know.”
These are great shots of some unidentified workers in random tunnels in the rock around Glen Canyon Dam. The captions below the pictures tell you what was written or stamped on the back. I don’t know what these tunnels were used for, or if they’re still there. Enjoy!
Photo: A. E. Turner, USBR 1/30/1958 Source: The LeGate Family The back of this photo simply reads, “Tunnel in Keyway.”
This photo is undated but is in the late 1950s. The photographer is not identified. Source: Dugan Warner
One of my first posts on this site was of a couple of highscalers belting off before going over the edge of the canyon. Here’s another one for your visual enjoyment! I’ll make a few comments below.
I don’t have the date this picture was taken, or any information about the photographer, but it was most likely a USBR photo. I can’t imagine who else would have gone over the canyon wall with these guys to get this shot. If you zoom in on this picture, you’ll see that they are using a drill of some kind to bore holes for anchors into the canyon wall. A square end plate was attached to the anchors (if that’s what these holes were for) to strengthen the sandstone wall and help keep it intact. These could have been something else, but that’s my best guess. They’ve already anchored several that look ready to be finished. Notice the 2 x 12 platforms – one below them and the other nearer the photographer. The photographer’s probably standing on that one.
This picture was taken from the Page side of Glen Canyon, looking downstream. Glen Canyon Dam is behind the photographer. A special thanks goes out to Dugan Warner for getting this picture to me.
Photo: A. E. Turner, USBR 9/10/1958 Source: The LeGate Family
The building of Glen Canyon Dam and Bridge wasn’t accomplished without great personal loss by some. I’m posting two photos this time because they are closely tied to one another. The handwritten caption on the back reads,
“Lower end of diversion tunnel and adit for powerhouse tunnel road. Right above the adit is where the man got killed Aug 11th. Rock ledge 200 feet above adit broke off. Small footbridge across river is at lower left.”
You can clearly see the lower opening to the powerhouse tunnel mentioned in the picture. It’s located at the base of the dam, next to the powerhouse. The lower footbridge mentioned in the caption and visible in the photo was at the approximate location of the powerhouse. My next post will be a better look at that lower footbridge. The powerhouse tunnel runs along the inside of the canyon wall from behind the old Country Club/golf course on top, to this point below. It’s still in use. The adits mentioned in the caption are the smaller horizontal tunnels that intersect the main tunnel at 90 degrees at regular intervals, primarily for ventilation. If you scroll back up to the picture, you’ll see the adit that is mentioned in the caption.
The photo was taken or cataloged one day short of a month following a fatality at this location that occurred on 8/11/1958. The photo caption mentions that a rock ledge broke off above the adit and killed a man. According to the memorial plaque below, the individual’s name was Austin Merritt. He joins 17 others who lost their lives in the Glen Canyon Dam project. All of them are listed here:
This memorial lists the names of the 18 individuals who lost their lives during the construction of Glen Canyon Dam and bridge. Source: Wmpearl (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons
The above memorial plaque was created by WMPearl in 2011 and is posted on Wikimedia Commons. I don’t know where it physically resides. Click [HERE] to view the source website at Wikimedia.
In the early 1970’s, one of my friends told me that her father was killed during the building of the dam. His name is listed at the top of the middle column, Raymond D White.
UPDATE 5/24/17: Here’s a list of memorials of the names on the plaque compiled by Donna Bloxton Petersen. Thank you Donna for all the time and work you put into this!
Photo: A. E. Turner, USBR 7/21/1958 Courtesy of the LeGate family.
This photo had some water damage, so I’m glad I was able to scan it. It’s dated 7/21/1958 and the handwritten description on the back reads, “Tower for cableway under construction.” This was one of three towers on this side of the canyon that rode on railways. This one may have been in a fixed position. I don’t remember for sure. There were three more on the Page side of the canyon. Cables spanned the canyon from these towers and were used to dump concrete, move material, and transport workers into and out of the canyon.
This one is shown on what is today, the upper parking lot of the Visitor’s Center. The Visitor Center itself would eventually be built to the left of this picture.
Photo: A. E. Turner, USBR 9/15/1958 Courtesy of the Legate Family
Here’s a shot looking down on the conveyor belts that transported the gravel underground to the batch plant. It’s dated 9/15/1958. There is a hand-written caption on the back that reads, “Concrete batching plant and concrete aggregate piles. Aggregate goes to tunnel and conveyor belt below piles and took to top of plant.” If you enlarge this and look close, you’ll see a gravel truck approaching what I believe is the dump hopper.
On the right side of the photo near the top, you can see where the canyon wall has been excavated in preparation for the dam. You can also see the spillway cut out on the far side of the canyon. You can also see the anchor point for the bridge arch on the Page side. Just to the right of this picture is the present day Visitor’s Center.
You can also see the footbridge and its shadow being cast down the canyon wall near the center of the picture.
Photo: A. E. Turner, USBR Courtesy of the LeGate family.
This photo is dated 7/8/1958. The back reads, “Foot bridge. The diversion tunnel inlet can be seen at bottom of canyon on right.”
As I scoured this with my handy-dandy magnifying glass, I noticed about a dozen people walking across the footbridge. As was stated on the back of the photo, you can see one of the diversion tunnels at the bottom of the canyon. These were used to divert the Colorado River water around the dam site during construction.
In the distance you can see a very dry Wahweap Bay and Castle Rock. It looks like this picture was taken from on the Beehive. It would be cool to find that spot and take another picture today of this same angle. This may have been taken before they sheered off the side to make room for the railways that supported the cable cranes. And you thought the flattened side of the Beehive was there to make room for the Visitor’s Center, didn’t you. The dam sight is just to the right of this picture. Stay tuned…
