Hords Creek Lake, located about eight miles west of Coleman on Hords Creek, was first surveyed in 1932, and was being studied by Congress in 1940, with engineers surveying the dam site in late 1943, but its building was delayed by World War II.  It emerged as a reality in December1946, after much red tape and work from Congressman O. C. Fisher.  The city of Coleman was in dire need of additional water at the time and the lake was finally placed on a list of urgent and non-deferrable projects submitted to the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion.  There was sufficient difference in elevation to deliver water by gravity to the water storage tanks in Coleman through a 24 inch line which could deliver 3,580,000 gallons per day with water surface at elevation 1833.0.

The dam itself was a compacted earthen fill structure about 6,300 feet long with a maximum height of 91 feet, top width of 24 feet and a maximum base width of 600 feet.  A 16 foot roadway was provided across the dam. The structure involved about 1,300,000 cubic yards of fill.  Appurtenant works required about 7,500 cubic yards of concrete.  There were two reinforced concrete outlet works were constructed, one for water supply to the city of Coleman and the other for flood control.  Construction began on the lake in January 1947 with the contract given to List and Clark Construction Company of Kansas City by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, and was completed in May 1948 at a cost of about two million dollars.  The city of Coleman paid $100,000 of its cost.  In March 1948, work was nearing completion on the Hords Creek project.  The concrete work was well along, two large concrete tunnels led through the dam connection with the front of the flood control.  Rock was crushed into smaller sizes for fill, with the dam being covered with large rocks.

Hords Creek Lake is shown after completion in 1948, looking south across dam and looking west from top of dam with a little water in the bottom.  A dedication for the new lake was held in April 1948, with car parking in the new lake bed.  The sunsets at Hords Creek Lake were spectacular, and a full lake is always good.

A bond election to provide funds for the building of a filtration plant and water supply system was held in August 1947 for the issuance of $350,000 in taxation bonds to finance the project. About $95,000 of the money would be used for the construction of a modern filtration plant adjoining a storage supply where 750,000 gallons of water would be kept on hand. The rest of the funds were used in the laying of a pipeline from the reservoir to the filtration plant, a distance of 38,000 feet. The size of the pipeline would probably be determined by the availability of pipe. The bond was approved by a vote of 259 to 50, and the city of Coleman filtration plant was built in 1949 on the hill west of Coleman. In March 1948, the first load of 1,600 feet of 12 inch Transite type pipe, being of asbestos-cement construction, began to arrive in Coleman.

It was used to connect the filter plant with the pump station on Hords Creek, near the swimming pool, and would require 9,300 feet of pipe.  The pump station (above right, Dunlap), located at the east terminus of the 14 inch pipeline from Hords creek, picked up the incoming water and moved it on to the filtration plant.  The low level dam, a supplemental water source is a few feet west of the station.

In July 1948, a special election was called at which time, qualified voters voted on a $100,000 tax bond issue, the money from which would be used to complete the pipe line to the new lake.  At the same time the question of transferring the $60,000 memorial fund (bonds voted for the American Legion war memorial) to the water use was also voted on.  This would add $160,000 to the $350,000 previously voted for water works improvement.  The special bond election was passed by only 1 vote with 301 for and 300 against.  The vote on the memorial fund transfer passed with 313 for and 276 against.  City officials indicated they might construct a low water dam in fear that the pipe might be slow in arriving, and that it might be the following fall before the entire line would be completed.  Hauling water was costing the city $15,000 per month, and saving two week’s shipping would pay for the dam.  In October 1948, the Coleman city council voted to use concrete pipe rather than transite pipe, due to the difference of about $25,000 in the cost of the 2,900 feet pipeline.

In April 1949, the new lake gained about two and a half feet of water, bringing the level just under one inch of the city’s gate.  Construction on the pipeline from the lake to the filtration plant was begun in May 1949, as much of the pipe had been received.  In 1951, the lake filled to within four feet of its flood control point.  In March 1948, the Coleman Chamber of Commerce attempted to persuade lake officials to name the new reservoir, Lake Coleman, rather than Hords Creek Lake, without success.  In fact, the new lake was being referred to as Lake Coleman in the newspapers.  If that had happened, what would Lake Coleman now be called?

The city’s new filtration plant, being constructed in 1948 was located on the hill, just west of town.  With its installation, water from the low level dam near the pumping station was picked up and moved into the plant and into the reservoir, increasing the potential water supply considerably.  In November 1950, Coleman city officials were giving consideration to the adding of another steel reservoir on the hill west of town.  The State Health Department had urged Coleman to cover the old rock reservoir, on top of the hill, for some time.   Officials believe they could buy another steel reservoir as cheaply as they could cover the old rock reservoir.

In 1952, the plant was picked as Texas’ most attractive filtration plant.  In the summer, it operated at its peak, when every day required a million gallons or more of water. The plant superintendent at that time was Carlos “Red” Koenig. The crew at that time included Lucien Love and Chester McDaniel, both water plant specialists with “B” licenses under state regulations.  Koenig had an “A” license, one of two in the city’s personnel at that time.  Water came into the plant from Hords Creek Lake west of town through an eight mile pipe line with a gravity flow of 1,100,000 gallons a day, an amount that was often accelerated by pumps.  The water entered an aerator for treatment that advanced it several stages towards being pure, and then went into a mixing chamber where lime, alum and chlorine were mixed in and any other chemicals that conditions may require can be added.  After it was treated, the water went into settling basins for a period when organic matter can settle to the bottom.  After this it went through the filter, a sand and gravel arrangement, that brings the water out pure and sparkling, to enter a reservoir that feeds into the city lines.  Capacity for the plant was two million gallons a day, a limit that had not been approached at that time.  The average daily use in 1952 was 886,000 gallons.  City reservoirs kept a safe margin of water in reserve, in the event a plant shutdown should ever become necessary.  Tests were regularly underway over the city to assure that water came to the consumer at its proper purity.  Ten samples a month were sent to a state health department laboratory at Brownwood for bacteriological analysis.

Hords Creek Lake had its up and downs in water level. In March 1963, Hords Creek Lake (above center, Capps) was its lowest level since filling, but Lake Scarborough was nearly full. Both lakes were being used as the water supply for the city of Coleman at the time, and the two had a two year supply of water at the time. The city’s intake tower at Hords Creek Lake was being inspected by City Manager Walter Garland (above right, Capps) at the time. The low level of the water on the tower indicated that it might became necessary to build a temporary dike to the left and pump water in the basin around the tower in order to keep the water at the level necessary for proper pressure on the gravity-glow line.

In February 1975 a City-County communications system, which was part of the area network was installed in Coleman. It was provided locally by a grant from the Criminal Justice Department. There were two stations here, one at the Sheriff’s office and one at the City Police office. The 260 foot tower for the system was located at the City Filtration Plant.