Possum Kingdom Lake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Possum Kingdom Lake | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Location | Texas |
| Coordinates | |
| Lake type | reservoir |
| Primary inflows | Brazos River |
| Primary outflows | Brazos River |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface area | 19,800 acres (80.1 km²) |
| Water volume | 724,700 acre feet (894,000,000 m³) |
| Shore length1 | 310 mi (165 km) |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Possum Kingdom Lake (popularly known as P.K.) is a 20,000 acre (81 km²) lake on the Brazos River primarily in Palo Pinto County Texas, USA known for its clear blue waters. It has a 310 mile (499 km) shore line.
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.[1]
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).[2] 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.
[edit] References
- ^ Possum Kingdom Reservoir from the Handbook of Texas Online
- ^ "History of Morris Sheppard Dam and Possum Kingdom Lake". All Roads Lead to Possum Kingdom lake. Possum Kingdom lake Chamber of Commerce.
It is the lake mentioned in the popular nineties song "Possum Kingdom" by The Toadies.
