Buchanan Dam
Burnet, Burnet County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1931, the Central Texas Hydro-Electric Company planned to build a dam on the Colorado River on the county line of Burnet and Llano counties. However, in April 1932, the project went bankrupt and lay unfinished. State Senator Alvin Wirtz took the project, and, unable to secure private funding, turned to government. Wirtz secured the support of U.S. Representative and Chairman of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee J.P. Buchanan by promising to name the dam after him. In 1934, House Bill No 1. of the 43rd Texas Legislature created the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), a conservation and reclamation district, in order to “control, store, preserve, use, distribute, and sell” the waters of the Colorado River. In the midst of the Great Depression, Buchanan Dam, often called the Hamilton Dam, and Inks Dam further downriver provided badly needed jobs to Burnet County residents. Locals lined up to receive one of the 1,800 new positions, mostly construction jobs paying 40 cents an hour. The salaries allowed families to maintain a better standard of living as well as supplement their farming income. In October 1937, the LCRA celebrated completion of the dam with a ceremony. Upstream flooding behind the Buchanan Dam, creating Lake Buchanan, had immediate effects on the community. Many long-term residents moved out of the path of the new lake. Around sixty graves interred in Old Bluffton Cemetery were re-interred in New Bluffton in Llano County. The lake’s recreational potential brought new business and residents to Burnet and Llano, and fishing camps and vacation rentals were built near its shore. Since its inception, Buchanan Dam has brought numerous advantages to Burnet County. (2023)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When a private dam project on the Colorado River went bankrupt in 1932, State Senator Alvin Wirtz turned to Washington, winning the backing of Congressman J.P. Buchanan — and the dam's name — to finish it. The 1934 Texas Legislature created the Lower Colorado River Authority to manage the river, and in the depths of the Depression the project put some 1,800 locals to work at 40 cents an hour. Completed in 1937, the dam raised Lake Buchanan behind it, drowning old Bluffton and forcing the relocation of graves, but bringing recreation, business, and steady power to the Hill Country.
Why it matters
Buchanan Dam embodies the New Deal bargain that reshaped rural America — federal money and public authorities taming rivers to deliver jobs, flood control, and electricity to communities that private capital had abandoned.
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Related people
- · Alvin Wirtz
- · J.P. Buchanan
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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