Newhalem (''Lushootseed'': dxʷʔiyb) is a small

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in northwestern

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, United States, located in the western foothills of the

North Cascades The North Cascades are a section of the Cascade Range of western North America. They span the border between the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington and are officially named in the U.S. and Canada as the Casca ...

along the

Skagit River The Skagit River ( ) is a river in southwestern British Columbia in Canada and northwestern Washington in the United States, approximately 150 mi (240 km) long. The river and its tributaries drain an area of 1.7 million acres (690,000& ...

. It is located within

Whatcom County Whatcom County is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Washington, bordered by the Canadian Lower Mainland (the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley Regional Districts of British Columbia) to the north, Okanogan ...

Description

Dana Currier with Old Number Six locomotive, 1954

Newhalem is a company town owned by

Seattle City Light Seattle City Light is the public utility providing electricity to Seattle, Washington, in the United States, and parts of its metropolitan area, including all of Shoreline and Lake Forest Park and parts of unincorporated King County, Burien, N ...

and populated entirely by employees of the

Skagit River Hydroelectric Project The Skagit River Hydroelectric Project is a series of dams with hydroelectric power-generating stations on the Skagit River in northern Washington State. The project is owned and operated by Seattle City Light to provide electric power for the ...

, or of local county, state or federal agencies. The town is not open to permanent residents who do not work for these agencies. The

Ross Lake National Recreation Area Ross Lake National Recreation Area is a US national recreation area in north central Washington just south of the Canada–US border. It is the most accessible part of the North Cascades National Park Complex which also includes North Cascades ...

surrounds Newhalem on all sides, and the North Cascades National Park boundary is approximately one mile to the north and south of the town. Newhalem does not have an assigned US Postal Service zip code and thus, for postal purposes, is considered part of Rockport (98283). The name Newhalem has its roots in a local

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

language as meaning 'Goat Snare', as the natives used to trap

mountain goat The mountain goat (''Oreamnos americanus''), also known as the Rocky Mountain goat, is a hoofed mammal endemic to mountainous areas of western North America. A subalpine to alpine species, it is a sure-footed climber commonly seen on cliffs an ...

s in the area. In pre-Colonial times, the site was inhabited by members of the Upper Skagits. There was a school in Newhalem a long time ago but it was demolished because the population had severely dropped. Now the students have about a -hour bus to

Concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

Climate

Newhalem has plentiful rainfall year-round, but with significantly less rainfall in the summer months than in winter. According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

, Newhalem has an oceanic climate (''Cfb'').

Newhalem in literature and film

The writer

Tobias Wolff Tobias is the transliteration of the Greek which is a translation of the Hebrew biblical name he, טוֹבִיה, Toviyah, JahGod is good, label=none. With the biblical Book of Tobias being present in the Deuterocanon/Apocrypha of the Bible, T ...

lived in Newhalem as a boy in the late 1950s, after his mother moved from west

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

to marry a mechanic who lived in one of the company houses. In his memoir, ''

This Boy's Life ''This Boy's Life'' is a 1993 American biographical coming-of-age drama film based on the memoir of the same name by author Tobias Wolff. It was directed by Michael Caton-Jones and stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Tobias "Toby" Wolff, Robert De Niro ...

'', he calls this isolated settlement "Chinook," and describes how the nearest high school was a long bus ride away, in a slightly larger hamlet called

. In the 1993 film version of ''

'', starring Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, the two places are combined and called "Concrete." Portions of the 1983 Hollywood movie ''

WarGames ''WarGames'' is a 1983 American science fiction techno-thriller film written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes and directed by John Badham. The film, which stars Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood, and Ally Sheedy, follow ...

'', starring

Matthew Broderick Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American actor. His roles include the Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of the title character in '' Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986), the voice of adult Simba in Disney's ''The Lion King'' (1994) ...

, were filmed in Newhalem WarGames (1983)
/ref> (most notably the scenes of the "

Cheyenne Mountain Complex The Cheyenne Mountain Complex is a Space Force installation and defensive bunker located in unincorporated El Paso County, Colorado, next to the city of Colorado Springs, at the Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station, which hosts the activities o ...

", filmed in an abandoned gravel pit northwest of the town).

Newhalem summer softball tournament

Each third weekend of July since 1977 there has been a "mushball" softball tournament. The competitors are

Skagit Valley The Skagit Valley lies in the northwestern corner of the state of Washington, United States. Its defining feature is the Skagit River, which snakes through local communities which include the seat of Skagit County, Mount Vernon, as well as Se ...

teams. Players camp a mile from the fields. On the second morning is a pancake feed at the firehall. The single field presents challenges not normally found at softball tournaments, plus the 7am start on Saturday.

Highway 20

Newhalem is the final place on Highway 20 to purchase supplies before crossing

Rainy Pass Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water ...

and entering Eastern Washington.

References

{{authority control Seattle City Light Company towns in Washington (state) Unincorporated communities in Washington (state) Unincorporated communities in Whatcom County, Washington North Cascades of Washington (state)