Postcard of Fort Peck Dam Tunnel Controls, Montana, possibly 1930s. , USA No. 232 Coles Studio, Glasgow, Montana. The Fort Peck Dam is the highest of six major dams along the Missouri River, located in northeast Montana in the United States, near Glasgow, and adjacent to the community of Fort Peck. At 6,409 m in length and over 76 m in height, it is the largest hydraulically filled dam in the United States, and creates Fort Peck Lake, the fifth largest man-made lake in the U.S., more than 210 km long, 61 m deep, and it has a 2,450 km shoreline which is longer than the state of California's coastline. It lies within the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge. The dam and the 216 km lake exist for the purposes of hydroelectric power generation, flood control, and water quality management. Fort Peck was a major project of the Public Works Administration, part of the New Deal. Construction of Fort Peck Dam started in 1933, and at its peak in July 1936 employed 10,546 workers. The dam, named for a 19th-century trading post, was completed in 1940, and began generating electricity in July 1943. The town of Fort Peck, Montana, "the government town," was built for Army Corps of Engineers personnel and men in "positions of responsibility" and their families during the dam's construction. Many of the facilities that supported the dam's workers are still utilized today, such as the recreation center and the theater. In addition to Fort Peck, other towns sprang up to house the workers. Among these were Wheeler and McCone City as well as more than a dozen others. Many of the homes were later moved to farms and towns around Montana.