Diving ghost town in Lake Roosevelt??

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Buccaneer

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Scuba Instructor
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Location
Tacoma, WA
# of dives
200 - 499
Has anyone heard of diving in the old ghost town that is now underwater in Lake Roosevelt? I know that a town- I believe it was called Kettle Springs, went under water when they put in the Coulee Dam. I have heard rumors you can dive "right down the main street" of this u/w town. Anyone done it, or have info??
 
Actually the town was called Kettle Falls, I think.

The orginal town was flooded by the Damn and then relocated to Meyer Falls and then merged with Meyrer Falls to form the town now known as Kettle Falls.

There is a national recreation area there, but the web site has no links or information about diving in the lake.

I sent an email to the historical society and will keep you posted if I get a reply.
 
Thanks Mike! I never would have thought of that. I appreciate the follow-through!
Diver Mike:
Actually the town was called Kettle Falls, I think.

The orginal town was flooded by the Damn and then relocated to Meyer Falls and then merged with Meyrer Falls to form the town now known as Kettle Falls.

There is a national recreation area there, but the web site has no links or information about diving in the lake.

I sent an email to the historical society and will keep you posted if I get a reply.
 
UPDATE:
I found this single comment on the web. It indicates you can dive it. However, I can't seem to find any further using the typical search engines. I may also try calling some eastern WA dive shops..

http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/wa/wattd.html
 
I live on Lake Roosevelt, not too far from Kettle Falls. The lake has been pretty low a few times, and I don't think there is much left of the original town; just a few sidewalks and stumps.

The guy at the dive shop on Division in Spokane told me that the "ghost town" is farther to the south. He said it was a great dive.
 
I have heard about it, but never done any kind of searching on it. Let me know what you find out, I would be interested to know if diving is in fact an option... that would be kinda cool!
 
Kayla:
I have heard about it, but never done any kind of searching on it. Let me know what you find out, I would be interested to know if diving is in fact an option... that would be kinda cool!

Next time I'm in Spokane, I'll drop by the dive shop and get more details. I'd spoken to him about taking a class in using a dry suit; we were going to dive the ghost town as part of the training. I asked him if the town was Kettle Falls, and he said no, that it was much farther south.

It's possible, of course, that there are several of these towns on the bottom of the lake, as the lake is huge, and it must have covered several former towns.
 
Here is the reply that I got from the "Ranger" at Lake Roosevelt Park:

"You can see a few things of old Kettle falls. If you visit the Locust Grove Campground area, also known as the group campsite of Kettle Falls, you can
see a few foundations and sidewalks from the old town. The groupsite is
located just past the entrance of the KF marina on Boise Road.

For more info on the town of Kettle Falls I would talk with the librarians at the Kettle Falls town library.Below is there information

Thank you for your interest.

Location:


605 Meyers Street
Corner of Meyers & 6th streets. (509.738.6817).


Rates:


Residents of the city pay no annual fee, and out-of-the-city residents pay a $10 per family per year for book loan privileges. Children who sign up for the summer reading program will not be charged this fee unless other members of the family check out books.


Hours:





Monday 1 p.m. - . 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday 1 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Friday 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Saturday 1 1 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Lee Snook

North District Interpretive Ranger
Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area
1368 Kettle Park Rd
Kettle Falls, WA 99141
5 0 9 . 7 3 8 . 6 2 6 6 Ext 1 1 5"

I called the Library and they gave me the number of a person to contact reference the Ghost Town and Diving.

More to follow. I am now curious to find the answer.

Mike...
 
Funny, I e-mailed the same Ranger. I just got a repy also, and he tells me that all the towns were either burned or moved, and that it is all rumor about diving these sites. However, the comments above about a Spokane LDS doing dives on a town makes me wonder. Perhaps there is one. I would like to here from someone who has actually done it, or the name of the LDS in question to confirm, and what exactly still remains.
Diver Mike:
Here is the reply that I got from the "Ranger" at Lake Roosevelt Park:

"You can see a few things of old Kettle falls. If you visit the Locust Grove Campground area, also known as the group campsite of Kettle Falls, you can
see a few foundations and sidewalks from the old town. The groupsite is
located just past the entrance of the KF marina on Boise Road.

For more info on the town of Kettle Falls I would talk with the librarians at the Kettle Falls town library.Below is there information

Thank you for your interest.

Location:


605 Meyers Street
Corner of Meyers & 6th streets. (509.738.6817).


Rates:


Residents of the city pay no annual fee, and out-of-the-city residents pay a $10 per family per year for book loan privileges. Children who sign up for the summer reading program will not be charged this fee unless other members of the family check out books.


Hours:





Monday 1 p.m. - . 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday 1 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Friday 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Saturday 1 1 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Lee Snook

North District Interpretive Ranger
Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area
1368 Kettle Park Rd
Kettle Falls, WA 99141
5 0 9 . 7 3 8 . 6 2 6 6 Ext 1 1 5"

I called the Library and they gave me the number of a person to contact reference the Ghost Town and Diving.

More to follow. I am now curious to find the answer.

Mike...
 
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