Lake O’ the Pines is a reservoir on Big Cypress Bayou, also known as Big Cypress Creek, chiefly in

Marion County, Texas Marion County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 9,725. Its county seat is Jefferson. Marion County is in East Texas and is named for Francis Marion, the Revolutionary War general from S ...

, USA. The reservoir also occupies a small part of Upshur and

Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Manitob ...

Counties. The dam is located approximately west of

Jefferson Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...

History

Lake O’ the Pines (formerly known as "Ferrell's Bridge Reservoir") was created by the construction of the Ferrells Bridge Dam on the Big Cypress Bayou approximately upstream from the bayou's confluence with the Red River. The reservoir was created as part of the overall plan for flood control in the Red River Basin below

Denison Dam Denison Dam, also known as Lake Texoma Dam, is a dam located on the Red River between Texas and Oklahoma that impounds Lake Texoma. The purpose of the dam is flood control, water supply, hydroelectric power production, river regulation, navigati ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. The project was authorized by the

Flood Control Act of 1946 The Flood Control Act of 1946 was passed by the United States Congress on July 24, 1946; to authorize 123 projects including several dams and hydroelectric power plants like Old Hickory Lock and Dam in Tennessee and the Fort Randall Dam in South Da ...

. Additional purposes of wildlife conservation, recreation, and water supply were added during construction. The

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

began construction of the dam in January 1955 and the dam was completed on December 11, 1959.

Dam and reservoir

The concrete-and-earthfill dam is long. The crest of the spillway is above mean sea level. The conservation storage capacity is with a surface area of . The bayou has a length of and a total drainage area of . The lake's normal conservation pool is above mean sea level. The lake provides water supply storage for the Northeast Texas Municipal Water District which serves the cities of Jefferson, Ore City, Lone Star, Avinger,

Hughes Springs Hughes Springs is a city in Cass and Morris counties in the U.S. state of Texas. At the 2020 census, its population was 1,575. The town has heavily damaged by an EF2 tornado on November 4, 2022. Geography Hughes Springs is located in western Ca ...

, Daingerfield, and most recently Longview. The water supply storage exists in the conservation pool between elevations 201 to . Water intake structures are located at various points on the lake and one downstream of the lake. Discharges from the two gates in the control structure located on the southeast end vary from a minimum of to a maximum of .

Monstrous Catfish

Lake O' the Pines has long been known to be home to giant catfish. Legend has it that some of the catfish are so big as to be called monstrous. Most people consider this to be part of fishing folklore as evidence has never been found.

References

External links

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Lake O’ the PinesU.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Corps Lake Gateway: Lake O’ the Pines
*
Recreation.gov: Ferrells Bridge Dam Lake O’ the Pines
* ttp://www.longviewyachtclub.org/ Longview Yacht Clubbr>"Poet o' the Pines" Milton Watts - Writer/Poet and Lake o' the Pines area resident
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake O' The Pines O' the Pines Ferrells Bridge Protected areas of Marion County, Texas Protected areas of Morris County, Texas Protected areas of Upshur County, Texas United States Army Corps of Engineers dams Bodies of water of Marion County, Texas Bodies of water of Morris County, Texas Bodies of water of Upshur County, Texas 1959 establishments in Texas