Looking Back’s theme for 2026 was Downtown by the Decades. Between 1950 and 1951, Capitol Lake was created by damming the Deschutes River estuary at Fifth Avenue. This image from 1950 shows the beginning of dam construction, with the estuary being narrowed by the construction of massive earthworks.
Unknown photographer, 1950, Susan Parish photograph collection, Washington State Archives
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2026