Site of Lake Plainview

The idea came from Harry J. Miller, the company's president from 1912 to 1916: let passengers arriving at the Santa Fe depot watch a working irrigation well. Construction on a thirty-acre tract began March 20, 1913; workers built a concrete levee ringed with a gravel road, walks, lights and plantings, and the lake filled to five or six feet by July 1. The company brought in Indian cranes, black and white swans, peacocks and sheldrakes and stocked catfish and bass. Residents boated, swam, picnicked, skated in winter and heard concerts from a bandstand in the lake.

What the plaque says

Site of Lake Plainview The City of Plainview, founded in the 1880s, sought agricultural supremacy for its trade area. Civic leaders pioneered irrigated farming in 1911 by boring the first of many deep water wells. In 1912, Texas Land & Development Co. installed a demonstration well near the Santa Fe Railway Depot and created Lake Plainview and a park at this site. Called Texas' largest body of water fed by a well, the lake was very popular with the public, but expensive to maintain. After fire destroyed the pump house in 1917, park and lake went back to nature. In 1977 the area again became a park. 1977

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• The Santa Fe Railroad in Plainview — steps away
• Plainview Daily Herald — 0.3 mi
• Former Office Site of Texas Land & Development Company — 0.5 mi
• Schick Opera House — 0.5 mi