Site of Lometa Reservoir

Water was one of several services Lometa built around the railroad. A Mr. Hail ran a public waterworks from about 1910 until April 1915, and private owners followed until the town, incorporated by 1920, took it over. F. C. Whitmire opened the first electric plant in 1909; it failed in 1916 and ran again under W. D. McLean from about 1918 to 1925. Texas Power and Light built a plant in the mid-1920s, and the Lower Colorado River Authority brought service in 1938. The first telephone system was organized in 1914.

What the plaque says

Site of Lometa Reservoir Remains of facilities at the site of Lometa Reservoir (Santa Fe Lake) are evidence of the role the Santa Fe Railway Co. played in area development. Lometa was established as a railroad town in the mid-1880s. When a second rail line came through in 1909, the railroads needed a water supply for steam locomotives. Completed in 1911-12, a dam backed waters of Emory and Salt Creeks, and the resulting lake provided water for the trains and became a recreation area. The need for water declined as diesel engines replaced steam locomotives in the 20th century. The reservoir was taken out of service in the 1970s, but a new dam and lake were later built. (2005)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Colorado Bend State Park — 14 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.
• Hancock Springs Park — 19 mi
  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.

More markers nearby

• Phantom Hill Road — 1.4 mi
• Lometa — 1.9 mi
• Scholten Railroad — 2.4 mi
• Senterfitt Cemetery — 2.7 mi