September 16, 1952.  As LBJ traveled around Texas campaigning for Adlai Stevenson, Mrs. Johnson and the girls had a harrowing experience at the LBJ Ranch: surviving the most destructive flood in the Hill Country’s recorded history. As historian Randall B. Woods tells the story, “Lady Bird and Lucy, who dined in the dark on tomato soup and peanut butter sandwiches, could do nothing but watch the Pedernales rise, sweeping away topsoil, trees, and livestock. As the river approached the front porch, Lady Bird read her daughter stories by the light of a coal-lamp.” (LBJ: Architect of American Ambition, 245) Photo courtesy of the Lower Colorado River Association.  See more photos of this flood, and others, on their Flickr collection.
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September 16, 1952.  As LBJ traveled around Texas campaigning for Adlai Stevenson, Mrs. Johnson and the girls had a harrowing experience at the LBJ Ranch: surviving the most destructive flood in the Hill Country’s recorded history.

As historian Randall B. Woods tells the story,

“Lady Bird and Lucy, who dined in the dark on tomato soup and peanut butter sandwiches, could do nothing but watch the Pedernales rise, sweeping away topsoil, trees, and livestock. As the river approached the front porch, Lady Bird read her daughter stories by the light of a coal-lamp.”

(LBJ: Architect of American Ambition, 245)

Photo courtesy of the Lower Colorado River Association.  See more photos of this flood, and others, on their Flickr collection.

June 15, 1952. The Alvin Wirtz Dam is dedicated at Marble Falls, Texas, one of a chain of six dams which harnessed the Colorado River. The ceremony is attended by some of the most powerful and interesting men in Texas politics—including LBJ. Also present: Homer Thornberry, who had just been elected to Congress and would eventually become nominated, though not confirmed, as a Supreme Court justice—who was also a good friend of the Johnsons (bio) Tom Miller, who would serve as Austin’s mayor for a total of 22 years (bio) Allan Shivers, the sitting Texas governor who would take on the Democratic party in the coming election by supporting Eisenhower because of  Stevenson’s position on the Tidelands issue (bio) Wirtz, who was a very powerful man himself, had died in Austin of a heart attack on October 27, 1951. Wirtz had been a supporter, friend, and ally to LBJ since he had asked for Wirtz’s help when he decided to run for Congress in 1937.
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June 15, 1952. The Alvin Wirtz Dam is dedicated at Marble Falls, Texas, one of a chain of six dams which harnessed the Colorado River. The ceremony is attended by some of the most powerful and interesting men in Texas politics—including LBJ. Also present:

  • Homer Thornberry, who had just been elected to Congress and would eventually become nominated, though not confirmed, as a Supreme Court justice—who was also a good friend of the Johnsons (bio)
  • Tom Miller, who would serve as Austin’s mayor for a total of 22 years (bio)
  • Allan Shivers, the sitting Texas governor who would take on the Democratic party in the coming election by supporting Eisenhower because of  Stevenson’s position on the Tidelands issue (bio)

Wirtz, who was a very powerful man himself, had died in Austin of a heart attack on October 27, 1951. Wirtz had been a supporter, friend, and ally to LBJ since he had asked for Wirtz’s help when he decided to run for Congress in 1937.

Where did the electricity for rural electrification in the Hill Country come from? In part, from the dams on the Colorado River, including the Mansfield and the Inks, built with New Deal funds. The Lower Colorado River Authority was tasked in 1934 with managing the six dams, including their recreational, flood control, and electricity aspects. The dams create what are now called the Highland Lakes. More on the LCRA: http://www.lcra.org/about/maps/index.html
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Where did the electricity for rural electrification in the Hill Country come from? In part, from the dams on the Colorado River, including the Mansfield and the Inks, built with New Deal funds.

The Lower Colorado River Authority was tasked in 1934 with managing the six dams, including their recreational, flood control, and electricity aspects. The dams create what are now called the Highland Lakes.

More on the LCRA: http://www.lcra.org/about/maps/index.html

LBJ with the Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC) Board of Directors in 1937. LBJ had helped organize the PEC to enable rural residents to bring electricity to remote areas like the town in which LBJ was born. Image courtesy of the LCRA: http://www.lcra.org/about/overview/history/timeline/historycenter.html.
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LBJ with the Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC) Board of Directors in 1937. LBJ had helped organize the PEC to enable rural residents to bring electricity to remote areas like the town in which LBJ was born.

Image courtesy of the LCRA: http://www.lcra.org/about/overview/history/timeline/historycenter.html.

Below is an aluminum dagger, made by NYA workers. It was donated to the LBJ Library and Museum by the senior statistician in the NYA, who was also the project director of the Inks Lake Dam.

 

The Inks Lake Dam was built from 1936-38 under the Lower Colorado River Authority, a public agency created in 1934 to build and manage dams along the Colorado River. In 1937, the LCRA would become very important to the campaign promises of aspiring Congressman Lyndon Johnson.

Today the lake created by the dam is the centerpiece of a much-loved state park run by Texas Parks and Wildlife.

(Source: tpwd.state.tx.us)