Diablo, Washington
Diablo is an unincorporated community in Whatcom County, Washington, United States. It is located along the Skagit River within the Ross Lake National Recreation Area, near Diablo Dam. The community was established in the late 1920s by Seattle City Light as a company town to support the construction of Diablo Dam, one of three major dams that form the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project. Seattle City Light continues to maintain operations in Diablo, but now works with the National Park Service and the North Cascades Institute to offer educational and recreational opportunities within the area.
The town is composed of two sections, known as Hollywood and Reflector Bar. These areas are connected by a single access road, with the Diablo Dam powerhouse and substation lying between the two. Because Diablo does not have a post office, it is considered part of Rockport, Washington, for postal purposes. The town is accessible via Washington State Route 20 and is approximately northeast of Rockport.
Diablo takes its name from Diablo Canyon, which was named by early prospectors and miners for the difficulty of traversing it, or possibly after a landmark in the American Southwest. Today, Diablo is known for its proximity to recreational destinations such as Diablo Lake, as well as the many trails, campgrounds, and historic sites in the area.
History
Before settlers arrived, the Kwabatsabsh people—now part of the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe—inhabited the area. Interviews with members of the Upper Skagit have helped indicate when past disasters have happened, such as a flood in 1815.Reflector Bar, a river bar located at the confluence of the Skagit River and Stetattle Creek, may have held importance to the tribe. While it is generally accepted that Stetattle means barrier or boundary in the native language, the reason for the creek's name is unclear. According to, a United States Forest Service supervisor in 1926, the location may have marked the border between the Kwabatsabsh people's territory and other tribes to the north, while a 1941 guidebook interprets Stetattle as referring to the area as a boundary between worlds, above which lies the world of ghosts in Indigenous oral tradition. This latter interpretation is attested in several other publications.
A homestead was claimed by Lucinda Davis and her children at Cedar Bar, near the modern-day site of Diablo, in June 1898. At the time, the area was accessible only via a notoriously difficult and dangerous overland trail from Newhalem. The Davis family opened an inn that served hundreds of local miners, forest rangers, and hunters. Their inn had modern amenities, including electricity and a radio, which was unusual for a remote location at the time. In 1904, the Reaburn climbing party renamed what had previously been known as Stetattle Peak to Davis Peak in honor of the Davis family.
Under the Forest Homestead Act of 1906, the United States Forest Service reevaluated the validity of the Davis family's claim to Cedar Bar. Their original claim of was reduced by the Forest Service, which proposed for a ranger station and other uses. The Davis family's claim was submitted for a federal land patent in 1910, and title papers granting them ownership were finally signed in 1917. In the same year, Frank Davis built the Sourdough Mountain Lookout, which was later replaced by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933. At the time, the CCC had a team of 18 men living in Reflector Bar.
In the 1920s, Seattle City Light began to show interest in the area's hydroelectric potential, and by 1928, it had started condemnation proceedings. In 1929, following surveys and expansions of the dam project that led to the Davis family losing their land, the family moved to Sedro-Woolley. City Light later honored the family by constructing a replica of their power station, including the original waterwheel.
Reflector Bar
Reflector Bar, a river bar named for the small reflector shelter built there, was the site of the Forest Service ranger station. In 1927, the Forest Service allowed City Light to occupy the area. Around late 1927 or early 1928, a railroad bridge was built over Stetattle Creek, connecting the line from Reflector Bar to Newhalem. The rails were electrified, although a steam engine was also brought in to climb the steep slope.By 1928, Reflector Bar had many buildings arranged in a U-shape, with a mess hall in the center. In addition to numerous cottages, ten larger four-room houses were built for the dam project's upper management. Amenities included a tennis court, a small zoo, and a swimming pool.
In 1932, two years after the dam was completed, many of the buildings were demolished. The powerhouse for the dam still needed to be constructed, so for a time, Reflector Bar housed a 300-ton crane manufactured by the Harnischfeger Corporation. In 1934, a water tower—a prominent town landmark today—was built, and the mess hall was converted into a commissary, carpenter's shop, store room, and recreational hall.
In 1942, Reflector Bar may have been designated as an Aircraft Warning Service site, though it apparently was never used. By the 1970s, most of the buildings had been demolished and replaced with lawns, despite earlier plans to turn the area into a wild garden.
Hollywood
The area where the Davis ranch had been located was renamed from Cedar Bar to Hollywood. At one point in the mid-1920s, around 20 shacks were scattered throughout Hollywood, possibly built by the Davis family to rent to employees before the condemnation of their land. In 1935, a building was donated for use as a school for eight children. In 1946, due to a population increase during the construction of Ross Dam, a much larger school was built. The building still stands, having been converted into a dining hall, visitor center, and museum.In response to complaints from employees about the crude construction of the buildings and the lack of sewer or water connections, City Light built five more houses and an apartment for ten people in 1938. By that time, only five of the original 1920s shacks still stood. In 1952, it was decided that 36 new buildings were to be built—11 in Reflector Bar, and the rest in Hollywood. Although 60 new buildings were initially planned, this was scaled down after it was determined that the old buildings could be kept. Eventually, only one of the houses built in 1938 survived.
The Diablo area has a history of flooding dating back to at least 1815, and after a particularly rough winter of floods leading into 1950, City Light raised the lower areas of Hollywood to an elevation of. This was done both to alleviate flood damage and prepare for the new Gorge Dam being built downstream. Also at this time, the original 1920s shacks were demolished to make way for redevelopment. The redevelopment and regrading of the Hollywood area that took place in the 1950s created much of the neighborhood that stands today. During redevelopment work, railroad tracks were removed, rail bridges paved over, roads regraded and repaved, 28 new houses built, sewer and water systems updated, and sidewalks as well as street lights installed.
Modern-day Diablo
In 1972, City Light decided to automate its dams, leading to the relocation of most residents and the retention of only a few essential employees. The town remains under City Light control, but is now used to house National Park Service employees and employees from the North Cascades Institute, who run the nearby North Cascades Environmental Learning Center. City Light and the National Park Service also work together to maintain trails in and around Diablo.From July 29 to October 1, 2023, the Sourdough Fire caused the closure of the North Cascades Highway and the evacuation of recreational facilities, the three dams in the area, and the Diablo community itself.
Geography
The community of Diablo was established as a company town to support the construction of Diablo Dam and other dams as part of the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project. Diablo consists of two separate parts—Reflector Bar upstream and Hollywood downstream—connected by one road, which had previously been a rail line before being paved over. Hollywood wasthe primary residential area, and mostly contains residential buildings. The Reflector Bar area has maintenance buildings, the inclined railway, the water tower, a helipad, and a few houses. Most buildings in Diablo are now empty. The Diablo Dam powerhouse and substation are located between the two areas. Land in Hollywood remains owned by City Light, while the land in Reflector Bar is managed by the United States Forest Service.
The settlement is east of Concrete, the nearest significant town, on State Route 20. The nearest significant town east of Diablo would be Winthrop, away.
Topography
Diablo is located in the upper Skagit River valley in Whatcom County within the North Cascades of northern Washington. The community occupies two adjacent river bars, Reflector Bar to the south and Cedar Bar to the north, being some of the only relatively flat, geologically stable, and buildable areas in the region. Diablo lies at the center of a narrow, canyon formed by the Skagit River and by the repeated advance and retreat of the Puget Lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet. One theory about how the canyon was formed is that the upper Skagit once drained northward into Canada, and the growth and retreat of successive Cordilleran ice flows brought about the reversal. Each advance blocked the river, forcing it to find new routes to the south, in the process carving deep gorges. Eventually, the Skagit gorge was so deep that even after the Cordilleran ice retreated for good, the river continued flowing south instead of north into Canada.Diablo sits at an elevation of, which is comparatively low relative to nearby landforms such as Diablo Lake, a reservoir impounded by Diablo Dam at an elevation of above sea level, and the nearby Cascades peaks, which exceed.
The regional bedrock is predominantly composed of the Skagit Gneiss Complex, a high-grade metamorphic suite of orthogneiss, paragneiss, and related migmatitic rocks that form the crystalline core of the North Cascades. The resistant nature of Skagit Gneiss has influenced local landforms by guiding patterns of valley incision and ridge formation and contributing to the supply of fine sediments that give Diablo Lake its characteristic turquoise hue when suspended in glacial meltwater.