In 1917, James Delmage Ross, superintendent of lighting for Seattle, obtained approval from the Department of Agriculture to build dams on the Skagit River.

[3] Uhden hired contractors to build a 25-mile rail line to Gorge Creek, allowing Seattle City Light to control access to the area.

The schedule was further delayed by workers leaving to hunt for gold, labor troubles, a forest fire, and a shortage of electricity.

Although Ross had estimated that the Skagit River operation would provide electricity to Seattle by 1921, those various delays pushed the date to 1924.

[3] In August 2021 Seattle City Light announced that it will undertake a study of the possibility of removing one or more of the Skagit dams for environmental reasons.

The dams are located in Whatcom County above the town of Newhalem, which lies just west of North Cascades National Park.

[3]: 47 From 1928 until the start of World War II, City Light offered guided tours of the Skagit Project.

The next day, visitors boarded another train to Diablo, where they toured the powerhouse and rode an incline lift to the top of the dam.