Pathfinder Dam

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

From the record

“Pathfinder Dam is a masonry dam, located on the North Platte River, approximately 47 miles (76 km) southwest of Casper, Wyoming. It was constructed from 1905 to 1909 as part of the North Platte Project and has been modified several times since then.”
Wikipedia article Pathfinder Dam, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 36 National Register listings published here for Natrona County · listed in 1971 · category: Structure.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 structure as contributing to the listing.
Address. 45 mi. SW of Casper, Casper, 82620
When was it listed? August 1971
Category. structure
Census division. Hells Half Acre
National Register reference number. 71000888 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

7 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 7 fires within 5 miles of Pathfinder Dam between 1993 and 2016, burning about 24 acres in total. 3 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Natural	3
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	3
Fireworks	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
9 August 2007	Natural	under an acre	Rawlins Field Office	CARDWELL RANCH
18 August 2005	Natural	1.2 acres	Casper Field Office	FREMONT
16 August 2015	Natural	under an acre	Casper Field Office	FREMONT FIRE
4 July 1993	Fireworks	under an acre	Casper Field Office	FREMONTCYN
21 July 2016	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	20 acres	Wyoming State Forestry	not named
15 March 2016	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1.0 acres	Wyoming State Forestry	not named
4 December 2016	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1.0 acres	Wyoming State Forestry	not named

Every fire recorded in Natrona County

Mines and quarries near this property

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Pathfinder Dam: 2 occurrences, 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Semiprecious Gemstone, Magnesite, Geothermal. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status
Alcova Hot Spring	Geothermal	Unknown
Platte Canyon	Magnesite	Occurrence
Unknown	Semiprecious Gemstone	Occurrence

Every working recorded in Natrona County

Storms near this property

60 of 67 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Casper, the town this property stands in, in 67 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 32 hail, 18 thunderstorm wind, 7 flash flood, 5 funnel cloud. The reports record 1 death. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
June 2008	Dust Devil	Casper	1 killed, $1,000	A 34-year-old woman was killed when a dust devil flipped a small scorer's shed next to a team dugout at a youth ball field complex. The woman apparently sought shelter from the dust devil by positioning herself behind the shed. The shed was flipped one-half revolution, crushing her on the first flip and then rolling off of her. The woman was found about 10 minutes later as teams begin arriving for their evening games. Resuscitation efforts failed and she was declared dead at the scene.
July 2005	Flash Flood	Casper	$500,000	no account filed
August 2005	Flash Flood	Casper	$85,000	no account filed
May 2006	Lightning	Casper	$65,000	no account filed
August 2007	Flash Flood	Casper	$50,000	One to two inches of rain fell on already saturated ground west of Casper along Poison Spider Road. Also, rainfall of 0.50 to 1.50 inches fell in less than one hour in and near the city of Casper. The rain produced flash flooding along Poison Spider and Paradise Valley roads and in some locales around Paradise Valley. Urban flooding was also observed along Interstate 25 in Casper.
August 2007	Flash Flood	Casper	$15,000	Rainfall of 1.38 inches in 20 minutes produced flash flooding about three miles north-northeast of downtown Casper. A private road was washed out, and mud and silt surrounded at least one garage.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Casper	$10,000	A semi-tractor trailer was overturned on Interstate 25 at mile marker 195 because of thunderstorm wind.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Casper	$10,000	Thunderstorm wind toppled a semi-tractor trailer on Interstate 25 near mile marker 182.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Casper	$3,000	The public reported several healthy three inch diameter tree branches down in Casper.
June 2009	Flash Flood	Casper	$2,000	Rainfall of one to two inches fell in and around Casper. One location at Wyoming Medical Center recorded 1.75 inches of rain. The water accumulated at the intersection of Poplar and CY avenues and flooded the area.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Casper	$1,000	A power line was toppled near the intersection of Mystery Bridge Road and East Yellowstone Road.
June 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Casper	$1,000	no account filed
April 2026	Thunderstorm Wind	Casper	-	A wind gust of 64 mph was recorded along Scenic Drive on the South Side of Casper.
July 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Casper	-	Wind gusts as high as 61 mph occurred on the south side of Casper.
July 2019	Hail	Casper	-	Penny sized hail was reported 18 miles north of Casper, Wyoming.
July 2018	Hail	Casper	-	A trained spotter reported golf ball sized hail.
May 2018	Hail	Casper	-	Trained spotters reported from quarter to golf ball size hail throughout much of Casper.
August 2018	Hail	Casper	-	The Natrona County Emergency Manager reported up to nickel size hail at the Bear Trap Music Festival on Casper Mountain.
June 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Casper	-	A trained spotter reported a tree blown down on a car in downtown Casper.
May 2010	Hail	Casper	-	A strong thunderstorm formed on Casper Mountain and produced penny sized hail as it moved north through Casper.
August 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Casper	-	A 73 mph wind gust was recorded atop the Wyoming Medical Center.
July 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Casper	-	Thunderstorm wind gusts of 60 to 65 mph were estimated near the Wyoming Medical Center in association with a thunderstorm that produced widespread flash flooding in Casper.
September 2009	Hail	Casper	-	Penny sized hail was observed in Casper.
May 2008	Funnel Cloud	Casper	-	A funnel cloud was observed by trained spotters over Casper.
August 2007	Hail	Casper	-	Nickel size hail was measured by a Cooperative Observer near Bates Creek.
August 2007	Hail	Casper	-	One inch diameter hail occurred in Casper.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Casper	-	Wind gusts estimated at 60 mph occurred at the helipad in Casper.
August 2007	Hail	Casper	-	Penny-sized hail fell for 10 minutes in association with a thunderstorm. The parent thunderstorm produced 1.15 inches of rain.
August 2007	Hail	Casper	-	Hail the size of nickels fell near Paradise Valley.
August 2007	Hail	Casper	-	The public and a Bureau of Reclamation employee measured one inch diameter hail on Casper Mountain.
August 2007	Hail	Casper	-	A CoCoRaHS spotter estimated hail to be the size of golf balls.
August 2007	Hail	Casper	-	The Natrona County Sheriff's Office relayed a report of 1.50 inch diameter hail on Casper Mountain.
June 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Casper	-	A thunderstorm produced a brief gust of 61 mph at the Casper Airport which did no damage.
July 1994	Hail	Casper	-	A late evening thunderstorm produced one inch hail in west Casper.
July 1994	Hail	Casper	-	A severe thunderstorm moved over Casper dropping dime-size hail first at Natrona International Airport and then in downtown Casper.
July 2006	Hail	Casper	-	no account filed
June 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Casper	-	no account filed
August 2006	Hail	Casper	-	no account filed
May 2004	Hail	Casper	-	no account filed
May 2004	Hail	Casper	-	no account filed
July 2004	Hail	Casper	-	no account filed
July 2004	Hail	Casper	-	no account filed
July 2004	Hail	Casper	-	no account filed
July 2004	Flash Flood	Casper	-	no account filed
July 2004	Hail	Casper	-	no account filed
July 2003	Hail	Casper	-	no account filed
September 2003	Tornado (F0)	Casper	-	no account filed
June 2003	Funnel Cloud	Casper	-	no account filed
June 2003	Hail	Casper	-	no account filed
June 2003	Flash Flood	Casper	-	no account filed
June 2003	Hail	Casper	-	no account filed
June 2003	Hail	Casper	-	no account filed
July 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Casper	-	no account filed
June 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Casper	-	no account filed
April 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Casper	-	no account filed
June 2001	Funnel Cloud	Casper	-	no account filed
June 2001	Hail	Casper	-	no account filed
July 2001	Wildfire	Casper	-	no account filed
July 2000	Wildfire	Casper	-	no account filed
July 2000	Hail	Casper	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Natrona County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 71000888 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Natrona County	All 36 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.