Site of Lometa Reservoir

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll give it to you straight with a little color on the side. Out here in Lampasas County, there's a site that holds the bones of something that once kept the iron horses drinking. The place is called the Lometa Reservoir, and some folks knew it as Santa Fe Lake.

What's left standing today, those remains of facilities still out there on the land, are evidence of the role the Santa Fe Railway Company played in the development of this whole area. And that story starts where a lot of Texas stories start: with a railroad coming to town. Lometa was established as a railroad town back in the mid-1880s.

The rails came through, and a town followed, the way towns do when the iron road decides to pay a visit. Now, fast forward to 1909, and a second rail line came through. Two railroads now, rumbling through the same stretch of Texas, and both of them running on steam.

Steam locomotives are thirsty machines, friend. They need water, and they need it in serious quantity. So the railroads needed a water supply, and somebody set out to build one.

Work got done, and by 1911 into 1912, a dam was completed. It backed the waters of Emory Creek and Salt Creek, and the lake that resulted served its purpose well. Water for the trains, yes, but it also became something else entirely: a recreation area.

People came out to that lake for reasons that had nothing to do with locomotive boilers. For a stretch of time, Santa Fe Lake was doing double duty. But the 20th century had other plans.

Diesel engines began replacing steam locomotives, and just like that, the whole reason the reservoir existed in the first place started fading away. The need for water declined as the steam era gave way to diesel, and by the 1970s, the reservoir was taken out of service. You might think that's the end of the story.

But they built a new dam, and a new lake came after. The water came back. The site of Lometa Reservoir carries that whole arc right there in what remains, the evidence of a railroad's ambition, a town's thirst, and the slow turning of one era into the next.

What the marker says

Remains of facilities at the site of Lometa Reservoir (Santa Fe Lake) are evidence of the role the Santa Fe Railway Co. played in area development. Lometa was established as a railroad town in the mid-1880s. When a second rail line came through in 1909, the railroads needed a water supply for steam locomotives. Completed in 1911-12, a dam backed waters of Emory and Salt Creeks, and the resulting lake provided water for the trains and became a recreation area. The need for water declined as diesel engines replaced steam locomotives in the 20th century. The reservoir was taken out of service in the 1970s, but a new dam and lake were later built. (2005)