Shasta Dam and Shasta Lake, California, 1950

About this postcard

Aerial view of Shasta Dam, with water released from the spillway churning into the river below and the reservoir backed up behind the concrete curve amid rugged hills. The dam was finished in 1945 as the keystone of the Central Valley Project, and Shasta Lake became California's largest reservoir, so the view shows a landmark still new when the card was mailed. The message on the back is a road-trip note: the writer drove 18 hours, spent Tuesday night in Dunsmuir, and arrived Wednesday morning, finding the country "Everything green. So different from arid home." The family planned to leave for Oregon the next day, with the kids tired but holding up well.