2.06.19-The Medina Dam…Not to much to say about this venue. We came, we saw and we left.

The history of the Medina Dam below is from the :© 2019 Medina Lake Preservation Society.
got Medina Dam History

The historic Medina Dam was completed in 1912 and Medina Lake was filled by 1913. The dam is a historical landmark, registered by the Texas Historical Commission and the American Society of Civil Engineers. The lake is approximately 18 miles long and three miles wide at its widest. The surrounding hills are composed of mostly fractured karst limestone covered in ash juniper, oak, persimmon, black walnut and (occasionally) madrona trees. Towering cypress grows near the Medina River and its tributaries. Medina Lake, combined with the Diversion Lake below the main dam, create the single largest recharge source for the entire Edwards Aquifer.

The Medina Lake Dam was designated a state historical landmark in 1976 by the Texas Historical Commission and was entered into The National Register of Historic Places at that time. The dam was also recognized as a civil engineering landmark in 1991 by the American Civil Engineering Society and a plaque with that designation sits on the dam, alongside the Historical Commission plaque. Today, the area that is known as Mormon’s Bluff was the site of one of the first Mormon colonies in Texas. A third plaque sits on the dam recognizing this settlement.

Three books have been written specifically about the history of Medina Lake, the first by the Reverend Cyril Matthew Kuehne, originally published by St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, entitled “Ripples From Medina Lake”. This book is currently being reprinted by the Castro Colonies Historical Society in Castroville. It is available at the Castroville Chamber of Commerce.

“Everything we were, we carry with us. Everything we will be, is calling to us, from the roads not travelled yet.” pjgrenier