DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker at White Rock Dam, Reservoir and Park has to say — and friend, this one's got layers. Now, every city's got a thirst story, and Dallas is no different. Early on, residents made do with natural springs, Artesian Wells, and the Trinity River.
Worked fine for a while. But by the early nineteen hundreds, all those sources began to prove inadequate for a city that just would not stop growin'. Dallas needed more water, and it needed it bad.
So in 1909, under Mayor Stephen J. Hay, the city got to work. They started acquiring land — two thousand, two hundred and ninety-two acres of it — out along White Rock Creek.
That's a serious piece of Texas real estate, and they were going to put every acre to use. The Fred A. Jones Company broke ground in January of 1910.
By 1911, the dam and the pump house were finished. Now here's where the story takes its first little turn — they built the thing, but the lake did not fill until April of 1914. Drought conditions kept the water from cooperating.
You can dam a creek all you like, but you cannot argue with a Texas dry spell. Once the water finally came, the people followed. Starting in 1917, the city permitted fishing on the lake.
Within ten years, sailing and boating had become popular activities. In 1929, all that land around the lake became an official city park. The very next year, the city built a picnic shelter and tables, and the firm of Carsey and Linskie designed an Art Deco bathhouse and boathouse.
They even developed a sandy swimmers' beach. White Rock had gone from a survival project to a destination. Now, not everything out there was leisure.
Until 1935, the city administered a prison farm at that same lake. So you had families picnickin' on one end and a prison farm operatin' on the other. Dallas was nothing if not efficient.
From 1935 to 1942, a Civilian Conservation Corps camp — Company 2896 — moved in and built many facilities out there. And while they were at it, the Works Progress Administration was providing for many other improvements as well. The place was being shaped into something real.
And people noticed. In the nineteen thirties and forties, more than a half million people visited the lake each summer. Half a million.
Every summer. Then the war came, and White Rock shifted again. The former CCC camp became a U.S.
Army Air Corps center. And right there on the shores of that same Dallas lake, they set up a camp for German prisoners of war. You let that one settle in for a second.
After the war, the lake kept on — until 1953, when drought came callin' again. Bad enough that the city banned swimming and had to temporarily use the lake as a water source, just like in the old days. Then in 1958, the city passed an ordinance banning large outboard motors, which drove the outboard enthusiasts off to other lakes.
Visitors declined in the years that followed. But here's how the marker leaves it: revitalization efforts have led to increased park usage, and a movement has taken hold to preserve the park and its history. That history — from drought to dam, from prison farm to prisoners of war, from half a million summer visitors to a quieter kind of comeback — is still right there at White Rock, waitin' on you.
What the marker says
Early Dallas residents relied on natural springs, Artesian Wells and the Trinity River for their water. By the early 1900s, these sources began to prove inadequate for the growing city. In 1909, under Mayor Stephen J. Hay, the city began acquiring 2,292 acres of land to build a reservoir on White Rock Creek. The Fred A. Jones Co. began construction in January 1910, and the new dam and pump house were finished in 1911. Due to ongoing drought conditions, the lake did not fill until April 1914. Beginning in 1917, the city permitted fishing on the lake. Within 10 years, sailing and boating were popular activities. In 1929, the land around the lake became a city park. The next year, the city built a picnic shelter and tables, and the firm of Carsey and Linskie designed an Art Deco bathhouse and boathouse. The city also developed a sandy swimmers’ beach. Until 1935, the city administered a prison farm at the lake, and from 1935 to 1942, a Civilian Conservation Corps (CO. 2896) camp operated, building many facilities. During this time, the Works Progress Administration provided for many other improvements. In the 1930s and 1940s, more than a half million people visited the lake each summer. During World War II, the former CCC camp became a U.S. Army Air Corps center and the site of a camp for German prisoners of war. A drought in 1953 caused the city to ban swimming and temporarily use the lake as a water source. In 1958, the city passed an ordinance banning large outboard motors; this drove outboard enthusiasts to other lakes. The number of park visitors declined in the ensuing years, but revitalization efforts have led to increased park usage and a movement to preserve the park and its history. (2006)