Lake Powell - Photos from the Early Years

JFRCalifornia said:
Good question. That photo you posted is dated 9-19-63, taken by Tad Nichols. That's the earliest photo of Wahweap Marina I've seen, and the only one I've seen when it was under construction. I'll post it again larger so others can study it for clues. I'm also posting another photo, probably from 1965 or so, that shows Wahweap Marina in its early days... perhaps more clues there too...

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So would you and SkibumUT agree then that the first photo was taken somewhere maybe between the Wahweap Hotel's beach and the legacy ramp near today's beach line? Was that the original location of the marina?

Also was this the Park Service laying out the first marina in 63 or was it Art Green's?

As I understand it the Green's original cabins were up top of Wahweap where the employee housing is today; There used to be a runway there too. Someone told me there was still evidence up there of the Green's cabins and I went up and looked around. I didn't see anything that didn't look modern. Was there ever a golf course up there too like maybe the map depicts? Or maybe I'm wrong, it looks like where the Camp Ground is today, maybe it was then too?

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Marina Bum said:
So would you and SkibumUT agree then that the first photo was taken somewhere maybe between the Wahweap Hotel's beach and the legacy ramp near today's beach line? Was that the original location of the marina?

Also was this the Park Service laying out the first marina in 63 or was it Art Green's?

As I understand it the Green's original cabins were up top of Wahweap where the employee housing is today; There used to be a runway there too. Someone told me there was still evidence up there of the Green's cabins and I went up and looked around. I didn't see anything that didn't look modern. Was there ever a golf course up there too like maybe the map depicts? Or maybe I'm wrong, it looks like where the Camp Ground is today, maybe it was then too?

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When I started going in the early 90s the rv park was up on top of the hill along with a laundry and showers and a small store where you checked in. I don't recall a landing strip, but there was a boat yard behind the store. I seem to recall that there were ponds up there as well.
 
Someone has made a mint printing those coffee table (your towns name here) Past and Present books.
My son drug ours out the other day here in Flagstaff and I learned that there was a 300 acre staging yard built here in Flagstaff where they shipped in most of the materials used to build Page and the Dam. Seems Flagstaff was the closest Railhead and everything was off loaded here and staged in that yard and then trucked up on Hwy 89. They say the yard used to be where the Flagstaff Mall is now.

Anyway I liked the picture in the book that depicts the building of the dam from the South side; I had no idea they had buildings and shops downstream while they were building the dam. You can see the penstocks as they were being laid up in this photo. I'd never seen a photo from this angle before that I can recall


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shams said:
Rainbow Bridge Marina

Found this on Facebook. I won't repost them here because they aren't mine, but these old photos of the Rainbow Bridge Marina are pretty cool.
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Shams, methinks you can repost these pics once they have been put on facebook, as now they are now in public....and they really don't hurt anyone. They are indeed great pics......we remember that marina well...AND the V4 Evinrudes..... :cool:

I'd fill up there often with 'premix'........50 to 1

:LOL:
 
JFRCalifornia said:
Here’s a fascinating aerial (satellite image?) of Lake Powell taken on October 29, 1963. This is one of the earliest glimpses we have into the lake quickly rising, from just below the dam all the way up to what is still the future Good Hope Bay. Look closely, and you can see the lake has only just about reached past Moqui Canyon, maybe to Hansen, but no farther. That means it’s only up to 3370 or so at that point, the pre-lake elevation at the mouth of Hansen Creek. For reference, 3370 is dead pool, impounding about 1.7 maf in “dead storage”. The only places with any kind of width to the lake are around Padre and Last Chance.

On December 28, 1963, the lake would reach 3409, a rise of about 40 feet in the last two months of the year…

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Wow. Looking at Bullfrog Bay and Halls Creek both empty is crazy as well.

Where did you get the image?
 
Here's a nice aerial of Hole in the Rock, taken in 1962 shortly before Lake Powell began to fill... WIthout the lake, you get a better sense of what the crossing would have been like for the 1879-80 San Juan mission pioneers who somehow got down that canyon face and crossed the river in winter with many wagons and horses without losing anybody...

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About a decade ago on an RV trip we spent a couple of nights in Bluff UT. A serendipitous visit to the Bluff Fort Historical Site was so very interesting to this Hole in the Rock hiker. The site is hosted by (I assume) Latter Day Saints in 1880’s costumes. Bluff was the terminus of the Hole in the Rock expedition. The fort and housing have been recreated and are packed with relics and stories. I have read the story of the first crossing many times, but this museum really brought the history to life. I had always understood that shortly after the first crossing they found a much easier crossing near Bullfrog, so always assumed only the one crossing at Hole in the Rock. No, there were susequent crossings and the first expedition actually built a rudimentary road down that slot. Really fascinating.
 
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BartsPlace said:
Pretty good documentary created from the journals and descendants of those who made the first crossing -

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I thought I knew a lot about this expedition, but I learned a lot watching this video, thanks for sharing that, I had never seen it.

The narrator Gerald Lund also wrote a historical novel called Undaunted about this expedition. It starts in the coal mines of Wales and follows the actual characters and weaves it into a compelling story.
 
JFRCalifornia said:
This is a shot from 1975, along Highway 95 just east of the bridge over the Colorado River near Hite. Look closely, and you'll notice the pavement ends. The highway wasn't fully paved from Hanksville to near Blanding until 1976...

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The turnoff to Blue Notch is near there. What's that sticker say on the back window? "Give Peace A Chance" "Have A Nice Day" "Free Manson" "I'm Pedaling As Fast As I Can"
 
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