History/Geography help in Corpus area

[44INAROW]

While packing and getting stuff together to move my mom in her new house, I came across a box full of old "mailed" envelopes from 1918 (during the war) all kinds of neat stuff. Also ran across a color postcard (looks more like a drawing than an actual picture) of the LOVENSKOILD DAM "a water supply project to supply fresh water to Corpus Chrisiti" - circa 1930 - any of you CC area folks know where this is? The card was dated 1930 but was mailed in June 1933.

[eppy 12]

History: Lake Corpus Christi State Park, a 14,111.78-acre park, located in San Patricio, Jim Wells and Live Oak Counties, southwest of Mathis, was leased from the City of Corpus Christi in 1934 (until 2032) and was opened in 1934. Many of the park's facilities were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the 1930s. This 21,000-acre lake was formed by damming the Nueces River.
In January 1929, a reservoir called Lake Lovenskiold was created in this valley with the construction of La Fruita Dam across the Nueces River, which washed out in November that same year. The dam was rebuilt in 1935, with federal funds provided by President Roosevelt’s New Deal, and the name changed to Lake Corpus Christi.
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company 886 developed the 365-acre Lake Corpus Christi State Park between 1934 and 1935 on a cove where San Patricio, Jim Wells, and Live Oak counties converge. CCC buildings included a bathhouse, park residence, and a refectory, but only the refectory remains. This Mediterranean-style building was built of cast blocks of local caliche. The blocks were cast in various sizes and laid in a random-ashlar pattern, closely resembling cut limestone.
By the 1940s, as the new reservoir lost storage capacity from silting, it became evident that a new and larger dam and reservoir would be necessary. Opposition to the new dam by landowners in the proposed flood pool resulted in litigation that delayed construction for many years. The local water supply district finally won a favorable court decision, and the present dam was completed in 1958. Named in honor of Wesley E. Seale, chairman of the Lower Nueces River Water Supply District, the new dam made Lake Corpus Christi one of the largest artificial bodies of water in Texas. It covers 21,000 acres, with a capacity of 300,000-acre-feet at the spillway elevation of 94 feet above sea level.

[STANG RED]

This should help some.

http://www.caller.com/news/2008/jun/18/pieces-of-string-too-short-to-save/

La Fruta, an earth dam built on the Nueces to impound water for Lake Lovenskiold, collapsed on Nov. 23, 1930. Fortunately, there was nothing in the floodplain when the wall of water came crashing down. La Fruta's replacement was named the Mathis Dam and the reservoir was named Lake Corpus Christi.

And here is a picture of the old Lovenskiold Dam, before it collapsed.

http://www.ccplarchives.ci.corpus-christi.tx.us/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=%2Fifp&CISOPTR=12956&DMSCALE=39.47368&DMWIDTH=600&DMHEIGHT=600&DMMODE=viewer&DMFULL=0&DMOLDSCALE=5.01337&DMX=0&DMY=0&DMTEXT=%2520dam&DMTHUMB=1&REC=18&DMROTATE=0&x=46&y=130

[44INAROW]

thanks Eppy - no wonder it's not well known - being washed out within a year of construction doesn't bode well.. :eek:

[44INAROW]

Originally posted by STANG RED
This should help some.

http://www.caller.com/news/2008/jun/18/pieces-of-string-too-short-to-save/


And here is a picture of the old Lovenskiold Dam, before it collapsed.

http://www.ccplarchives.ci.corpus-christi.tx.us/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=%2Fifp&CISOPTR=12956&DMSCALE=39.47368&DMWIDTH=600&DMHEIGHT=600&DMMODE=viewer&DMFULL=0&DMOLDSCALE=5.01337&DMX=0&DMY=0&DMTEXT=%2520dam&DMTHUMB=1&REC=18&DMROTATE=0&x=46&y=130

that's the post card I have! How weird is it that I have never heard of this place and I find the card and low and behold - it was mentioned in an article last week? Serendipity ;)

[AP Panther Fan]

Originally posted by 44INAROW
thanks Eppy - no wonder it's not well known - being washed out within a year of construction doesn't bode well.. :eek:


Amazing....and it cost 2.75 million in 1930! I didn't think anything cost that much in 1930.