Photo Essay: Construction of the Bonneville Power Administration's 'Master Grid' by Craig Holstine Pictures on the pages that follow were taken by government photographers during the building of the transmission line system that brought federal electrical power to many parts of Washington and Oregon. These photos are part of a collection housed in the Bonneville Power Administration headquarters in Portland.

The BPA photo archives provided them for Craig Holstine in 1986-87 while he was writing a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. The nomination included substations and transmission lines of the original master grid network --and helped commemorate the 50th anniversary of the BPA. In 1987 the Advisory Councils on Historic Preservation in Washington and Oregon unanimously recommended that the facilities be listed in the National Register of

Historic Places.

An article by Craig Holstine, following these photographs, tells the story of the building of the Master Grid.

A map on page 22-23 shows the transmission system as of 1944.