When was lake granbury built

Lake Granbury: Recent Historical Statistics. Historical Data. Most Recent Instantaneous Water Level. Between and , Dow has used more than 1 trillion gallons of water from the river, according to the TCEQ. A Travis County court agreed with the farmers. The appointment of a watermaster would come at a good time for Dow. The flow of water in the Brazos is so slow that saltwater in the Gulf of Mexico is migrating back up the river.

Saltwater intrusion has become such a serious threat that Dow plans to build a temporary dam downriver to help keep the saltwater at bay. In making its priority call last year, Dow claimed upstream farmers were diverting water that belonged to the company.

But the farmers claim Dow cheated them out of compensation for their water rights. But when it comes to the Brazos River Authority, the quasi-public entity that manages water supplies for the Brazos Basin, the mistrust over its request for a permit from the TCEQ to divert , acre-feet of water per year from the Brazos on top of the , acre-feet per year it currently diverts has united an unlikely group of opponents: environmentalists, farmers, homeowners and even Dow Chemical.

But over the last 10 to 15 years, the state has changed the law by agency action to eliminate a showing of need — a real beneficial use — allowing for speculation and banking of water rights. Tom Hunter, who orchestrated the program, was careful to negotiate cautiously and in the proper order, that is, in such a way as to minimize jealousy and holdouts.

When it was finished, the Brazos men regarded the acquisition program as a great success. By the end of August, , the Authority was ready to advertise for bids. Zachary Co. The inauguration of the project touched off a great land boom in the Granbury area as local and outside speculators rushed to buy land which would soon be on the shoreline of a beautiful lake.

Businessmen also became excited at the prospects of development made possible by the lake. Rockwell opened a new restaurant on the square. It was the first of a whole series of projects that would soon transform that dreary area into one of the most delightful small town restorations in Texas. Durant, owner of a Chevrolet agency, was also excited, anticipating a rush of new population from Dallas and Fort Worth when the dam was completed, and he built a new facility. Many others followed suit.

The reservoir filled by the end of the year and on June 19, , the entire facility was dedicated in ceremonies attended by Governor Preston Smith and several descendents of Jacob de Cordova. The dam is a concrete and earthen structure 2, feet long and eighty-two feet high and is the Ambursen massive buttress type similar to the one at Possum Kingdom. The lake covers 8. It extends upriver some thirty-three miles and has a shoreline of approximately miles.

It is quite as beautiful as Walter Humphrey and others who envisioned it had predicted it would be. Economically, the effects of the project on Granbury and Hood County have been astounding. Breakfast is provided daily, with the purchase of your room reservation.

This native limestone structure was built in on the site of an old livery stable by prominent Granbury citizen, Jeff Rylee. The Granbury Masonic Lodge chartered in , purchased this building in the mids. This is the building in The small lot where this building now stands was vacant for many years. This building was constructed in the mid s for Herman D. Thomason, who was a partner in the Goforth-Thomason Hardware Store.

Thomason was from nearby Tolar and he was a schoolteacher for many years. After the Thomason Building was completed, the dress manufacturing company used it for storage of dresses and equipment. The completed dresses were picked up by large trucks and taken to Dallas, where they were distributed to retailers throughout the country. All of the women who worked at the dress manufacturing company were from Hood County. This cut limestone structure was built in to house the hardware operation of D.

Baker and J. Baker and Rile had a well dug inside their hardware store, and they installed a windmill and water tank on the roof, therefore they had their own s water works system. The first automobiles in Granbury appeared in , registered to a handful of wealthy businessmen. Until the s, very few residents of Granbury owned cars, and roads in the area were virtually impassable. In , this building was converted to a gasoline service station by the Transcontinental Oil Company of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Part of the building was removed to provide drive-through auto access, and gasoline pumps were added. Today there is a bypass for U. Highway , but at that time, Pearl Street was the main route through the city.

The Sanborn Maps, used for fire insurance show six stone buildings were in existence by blue , tan buildings are wood. The Sanborn map shows that two wooden structures were replaced with stone structures, building , the Nutt House and building , the Aston-Landers building. By the Sanborn Maps shows some of the businesses have changed, but the configuration of the buildings remained about the same as the survey.

An early photograph of Bridge Street, taken between the and surveys, when building , The Fair, was still wood. The Sanborn map of Granbury shows only on stone structure existed on the courthouse square block, Agril implements and buggies.

A wooden livery was to the north. To the south were structures housing Agril implements, a millinery, restaurant, a meat market and feed store. The Sanborn map shows two buildings, the south corner of the street, were now build from stone, a furniture store and a hardware store.

The Sanborn Map shows a stone structure was added to the noth corner of the street, now Shirley Hooks Century 21 real estate office. Immediately to the south on Pearl is the First Methodist Church. The Sanborn map shows the northern half of the street was all rock structures.

The rest, except the building on the south corner, were constructed from wood. Facebook Twitter. Historic Streets. As the community braced for growth and new development following the creation of Lake Granbury in , a reporter for the Hood County News Tablet wrote: We cannot bury our heads in the Brazos River Sands. By , the Sanborn map of Granbury shows the building next door has become a stone structure. An early photo just after construction.