From the GRDA history files: Construction begins on Pensacola Dam

The caption over the picture in the Tulsa World read “First Wheels Turn for Huge Dam” and the picture showed a group of men, dressed for the cold January day, gathered around an earth mover, near the east end of what would become Pensacola Dam.

That picture was published 88 years ago this week – January 13, 1938. The occasion was a gathering of potential bidders, interested in excavating the spillway areas for Oklahoma’s first hydroelectric facility. The grader was onsite near present-day Disney to dig a “test pit.” According to the newspaper caption, project engineers wanted to show bidders “the nature of the soil to be removed.” The article went on to say that the work marked “the first actual removal of earth at the Grand River dam site.”

M.E. Gillioz, Inc., out of Monett, Missouri, was the successful bidder for that work. The firm would go on to complete the excavation by August of that year. It was one of approximately 70 contracts associated with the overall construction of Oklahoma’s first hydroelectric facility.

Still, this one small activity represented one of the first major steps towards completion of Pensacola Dam and the reality of hydroelectricity production in Oklahoma. Today, as GRDA takes this brief look back at history, we remember the men and women who played such a key role in the Pensacola Dam construction, all those years ago.

GRDA is Oklahoma’s state-owned electric utility; fully funded by revenues from electric and water sales instead of taxes. Each day, GRDA strives to be an “Oklahoma agency of excellence” by focusing on the 5 E’s: electricity, economic development, environmental stewardship, employees, and efficiency.