The 1957 Flood

The remedy began before the flood came. Under the federal Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act of 1954, the Hill Country Soil and Water Conservation District and the governments of Lampasas and Burnet counties started planning a program for Sulphur Creek, a spring-fed stream that runs about twenty miles northeast to the Lampasas River. Construction began in 1958, pushed forward by the 1957 disaster, and the dams did much to end flooding in town. The county had seen other high water too: in July 1938 the Colorado River flooded its southwestern part, damaging roads and bridges.

What the plaque says

The 1957 Flood The area around Lampasas drains to the Sulphur Creek basin, and the stream flows across the town from the southwestern edge to the east side, intersecting with Burleson Creek and other branches along the way. Floods have struck the town throughout its history, and notable early ones occurred in 1873, 1936 and 1944. Following the 1944 rise, city officials took measures to address the problem, dredging the creek and constructing earthen levees. Such work, however, failed to prepare the town for what would occur in the next decade. 1957 was a year of heavy rainfall in Texas, following a long period of drought. On May 12 of that year, only two weeks after an earlier rise, sustained downpours in the area caused water to begin collecting along upper reaches of the Sulphur Creek headwaters, and as it quickly joined up with downstream tributaries it began to spill over the banks. Through the night of Mothers Day, May 12, 1957, floodwaters rages through the middle of town, slamming into stores and houses with dramatic force, and washing away cars and other property. Flat tops of buildings around the square became islands of safety for those trapped by the water, and residents fought to save themselves and their families. Tragically, five people died in the incident. Following the devastating flood, the citizens of Lampasas regrouped and rebuilt, and businesses reopened within months. The tremendous loss of life and property caused by the Mothers Day flood of 1957 spurred city officials to action, and new flood control measures soon followed. The 1957 flood thus proved to be a turning point in city planning and development, as well as the history of Lampasas. (2005)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Hancock Springs Park — steps away
  Lampasas's city park on Sulphur Creek, with a spring-fed swimming pool that holds about 69 degrees all year, the walls of the old bathhouse and a golf course.
• Colorado Bend State Park — 18 mi
  Old ranch country on the Colorado above Lake Buchanan, where a spring-fed creek drops 70 feet over fern-covered travertine at Gorman Falls.
• Inks Lake State Park — 25 mi
  A state park on a constant-level lake of the Colorado, between Buchanan and Inks dams, with pink granite and gneiss at the water and CCC work along Park Road 4.
• Inks Dam National Fish Hatchery — 26 mi
  A free federal hatchery below Inks Dam on the Colorado, with thirty production ponds that draw birds and a look at how fish are raised from egg to harvest.

More markers nearby

• Hancock Springs — steps away
• Hostess House — 0.3 mi
• Cook Cemetery — 0.3 mi
• Hancock Springs Bathhouse — 0.3 mi