It is impounded by the Morris Sheppard Dam which was built primarily for water conservation and flood control although it does have two 11,250 kilowatt generators. The dam is 2,740 feet (835 m) long and stands 190 feet (58 m) high. The construction is unique with buttressed arched wings on either side of the nine spillway gates rather than the usual filled concrete.
The dam was named for United States Senator Morris Sheppard of Texas. Construction of the dam started on May 28, 1938 under the authority of the Brazos River Conservation and Reclamation District (now known as the Brazos River Authority). The dam was completed on March 20,1941 at a cost of $9,000,000 by the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal recovery agency.
References
It is the lake mentioned in the popular nineties song "Possum Kingdom" by The Toadies.
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Last updated on Friday May 30, 2008 at 19:19:19 PDT (GMT -0700)
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