Historic Photos

In 1938, Klickitat County had various electricity providers, including Pacific Power & Light and small power plants for local communities. On November 8, 1938, a public utility district was established, reflecting significant progress over the years.

Four men in suits stand beside an old car with a Farmers Unite sign.

Washington State Grange spearheads Initiative No.1.

A vintage building labeled P.U.D. No. 1 Mason County.

The first PUD to go into operation was PUD No. 1 of Mason County.

A vintage newspaper headline reports a Supreme Court ruling.

After a challenge, the law establishing PUDs was upheld in 1936.

Historical street scene with horse-drawn wagons, people gathered outside wooden buildings.

Main Street in Goldendale, July 4, 1880

The Willie Wirehand cartoon figure waves from an old-fashioned tractor.

For many years “Willy Wirehand” was used as a familiar PUD logo

Six people stand outdoors near an industrial structure, wearing mid-20th-century attire.

Early employees

Two women wash clothes in basins outside a wooden building.

Wash day before electricity

A vintage office scene with three people in an early 20th-century work environment.

The PUD’s first office, in White Salmon

Four people standing together, looking at a book in a room filled with bookshelves.

PUD commissioners Harold Hill (far left) and Frank Ward (far right) are joined by PUD’s first manager, Emmet Clouse, and his wife, Mildred (center).