The dam was designed by the New York engineering firm of Sanderson & Porter, and originally constructed to satisfy the power needs of the Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad interurban trolley lines.

[3] The dam, powerhouse and ten adjacent cottages were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

[4] The cottages were built in 1928 and 1929 by Washington Water Power as housing for the dam's employees.

In the interior, each cottage consists of three bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom and living room.

They are located on the downstream side of the dam, on a basalt bluff which rises above the river.