Joe Pool Lake

Joe Pool Lake
Joe Pool Lake Joe Pool Lake Show map of TexasShow map of the United StatesShow all
Location	Dallas / Tarrant / Ellis counties, Texas, United States
Coordinates	32°37′43″N 97°0′19″W / 32.62861°N 97.00528°W / 32.62861; -97.00528Coordinates: 32°37′43″N 97°0′19″W / 32.62861°N 97.00528°W / 32.62861; -97.00528
Catchment area	233 sq mi (600 km2)
Basin countries	United States
Surface area	7,740 acres (31.3 km2)
Max. depth	75 ft (23 m)

Joe Pool Lake is a fresh water impoundment (reservoir) located in the southern part of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in North Texas. The lake encompasses parts of Tarrant, Dallas and Ellis counties. The lake measures 7,740 acres (31.3 km²) with a conservation storage capacity of 176,900 acre-feet (218,200,000 m³). With a maximum depth of 75 feet (23 m) the lake drains an area of 232 square miles (601 km²).

Joe Pool Lake was named after Joe Pool, a congressman from the Oak Cliff area of Dallas who represented this district from 1967 until his death in 1968. Prior to 1967, Pool represented all of the state of Texas as its last U.S. Congressman-At-Large from 1963 through 1966. Pool was highly influential in passage of legislation and funding of his idea of a flood control and water conservation lake that he submitted in a report to President - Elect John F. Kennedy and Vice President- Elect Lyndon B. Johnsons' Kennedy-Johnson Natural Resources Advisory Committee on December 15, 1960.[1]

Beginnings[]

The project to build Joe Pool Lake started from a promise first made in the late 1920s,^[1] renewed in the late 1950s^[2] by the late U.S. Rep. Joe Pool and was carried out after Pool's death in 1968 by a citizens committee called the Lakeview Planning Council^[3] and Pool's congressional friends. The oft-stalled lake project – approved by Congress in 1965 and known as Lakeview Lake until 1982 when President Ronald W. Reagan signed a bill to rename the lake to Joe Pool Lake^[4]—had been a subject of delays caused by property owners, environmental lawsuits and lack of funding.

As a result, when construction began in 1977 – nine years after Joe Pool died – it became one of the first projects in the nation to pay its own way because of federal cuts in recreational park projects.

Construction of the lake dam was completed in December 1985. Impoundment of water began in January 1986 and the lake was filled by June 1989.

Joe Pool the last U.S. Congressman-at-large[]

Joe Pool Lake was named after Joe Richard Pool (February 18, 1911 – July 14, 1968), the last Congressman-At-Large from Texas and the United States. Because Pool represented from the same size constituency, the whole state of Texas from 1963 to 1967, his constituents numbered 10 million, making Pool's constituency one of the largest in the history of the United States House of Representatives. Pool was considered a third U.S. Senator by many voters in Texas, even though his legislative chamber was at the other end of the United States Capital.

Joe Pool was born in Fort Worth, Texas. He graduated from Oak Cliff High School (now Adamson High School) in the Dallas Independent School District and attended the University of Texas from 1929 to 1933. In 1937, he graduated from Southern Methodist University School of Law, was admitted to the Texas bar, and commenced practicing law in Dallas, Texas.

During World War II, he served with the United States Army from 1943 to 1945 as a special investigator in the Intelligence section of the Army Air Corps. After the war, he resumed the practice of law.

He entered politics as a Democrat and won a race for state representative from Dallas County in 1952. He won re-election in 1954 and 1956, serving from 1953 to 1959. He was an unsuccessful candidate for U.S. Representative from the 5th District of Texas (Dallas County) in 1958, losing in the primary to Barefoot Sanders. He ran again in 1960, winning the primary, but lost in the general election to Republican incumbent Bruce Alger.

In the 1960 Congressional reapportionment, Texas received an additional U.S. House seat, but the districts were not redrawn and an at-large seat was created by the legislature. Pool won the Democratic nomination and defeated the Republican in the general election to serve in the Eighty-eighth Congress. He was also re-elected at-large to the Eighty-ninth Congress in 1964.

However, in Wesberry v. Sanders (1964), the U.S. Supreme Court banned at-large Congressional districts. Texas redrew its districts, and Pool was re-elected again in 1966 to the Ninetieth Congress but  this time to the 3rd district that encompassed the western half of Dallas County.^[5]

Pool served in Congress from January 9, 1963, until his death from a heart attack on July 14, 1968, at Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas. Pool, as a member of his House Post Office Subcommittee, was on a postal facility inspection tour of facilities in Los Angeles, California and Houston, Texas at the time of his death.^[6] “It can truly be said he died in the line of duty. He was one of the foremost men of the country in fighting for those ideals for which America stands, for measures that would strengthen our institutions of government and combatting those that would destroy our government," U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Mc Cormack of Massachusetts  said in his eulogy of Joe Pool on the House floor.^[6] “Pool gave his life for his country” eulogized lifetime friend Texas State Senator Jimmy Phillips of Angleton, Texas  to 900 mourners at Pool's funeral at the Tyler Street Methodist Church in the Oak Cliff part of Dallas where Pool grew up.^{[7][8][9][10]} Pool was interred in Laurel Land Memorial Park, also in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas.^[5]

A promise made[]

Joe Pool Lake's creation is the story of two promises Pool made to solve the same problem to two different audiences more than 30 years apart. Joe Pool attended Oak Cliff High School, now known as Adamson High School, in the late 1920s. Pool and his young friends, including Wylie Stufflebeme,  later from Grand Prairie, Texas and Claton Wyman, later from Duncanville, Texas, (who were in attendance or were pallbearers at Pool's funeral in 1968) used to hunt and fish in their spare time in the Mountain Creek and Walnut Creek watersheds, located in southern Dallas and Tarrant Counties and northern Ellis county.^[11][12] On some of  these trips Pool and his classmates would witness the banks of these two creeks overflow from heavy storms causing substantial water damage to downstream farms, businesses, and homes mostly in Grand Prairie, the Oak Cliff parts of Dallas, and Mansfield. Later Wyman shared with Pool's wife Elizabeth and sons Richard, Wesley, John, and Joe Jr. that on one of the many washed-out trips the group experienced Pool committed to his young friends that “It’s too bad no one stops the flooding ruining these homes.” He went on to suggest to them that “If no one else can stop this devastation before I get the opportunity some day, I promise to do my best to solve the problem.” Wyman, who in June 1966 was hosting a party for the Pool's and their mutual friends at his Duncanville, Texas home spoke of Pool's initial promise to his young friends in the 1920s. At this 1966 party Wyman informed the Pool family for the first time that "your father promised me, Stufflebeme, and some of our other friends in the late 1920s that he would solve the Mountain Creek and Walnut Creek flooding problem and lo and behold he is doing just that with his lake idea."^[1]

The Promise Renewed[]

From January 1953 through December 1958 Joe Pool represented Place 5 in one of the all At-Large Dallas County state representative seats. He was elected by him and his family handing out to voters his signature “Keep Cool with Pool” fans.[2]^[13][14] While serving in the legislature Pool authored bills that  outlawed lewd and horror comic books, legislation requiring insurance reforms, and an animal protection bill for the Humane Society.^{[13][14][15][16][17]}

As chairman of the subcommittee of the House Conservation and Reclamation Committee, Pool co-authored several bills concerning flood control projects. One of which he handled was the passage of the Trinity River Authority Act in 1955.^[15]  This bill provided for coordination of existing and future reservoir water resources for the entire Trinity River Basin.

Because of Pool and his House subcommittee's research on this basin, which accounted for evaluation of all major creeks flowing into the Trinity Basin, Pool and his subcommittee members were apprised by subcommittee staff of the future worthiness of creeks whose water capacities could support a flood control water conservation reservoir. These new reservoirs would alleviate some of the drought conditions created in Texas in the 1950s and would greatly support new orderly development in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Pool felt this significant water study was a late 1950s clarion call to act for chambers of commerce members, city planners, and Pool's concerned constituents throughout Dallas, Tarrant, and Ellis Counties.

Still existing was the issue of the viability of the Mountain and Walnut Creek watersheds to qualify for a future flood control project. Pool informed his Oak Cliff, Cedar Hill, Grand Prairie, Duncanville, Midlothian, Mansfield, Arlington and De Soto chambers of commerce constituents and other affected neighbors that large flood control projects mostly come about through the federal government rather than the state government due to the immense expense required for land acquisition and construction costs. However, to lift the hopes of affected neighbors and those southwest chambers of commerce members Pool said, in his opinion, the research gathered by the subcommittee justified the need for a Mountain Creek / Walnut Creek watershed flood control study by a government agency.

In 1980, Wesley Pool, son of Joe Pool, interviewed the editor, publisher of The Oak Cliff Tribune Ray Zauber, a longtime friend of the Pool family. In the interview, Zauber stated, "Joe Pool reiterated to these late 1950s constituents the same promise he made over 30 years earlier to his Oak Cliff High classmates in the 1920s: that, if given the chance,  he would finally solve this Mountain/Walnut Creek watershed flood control problem."^[2]

Missteps Climbing the Ladder[]

Although undefeated after three state representative elections from 1952 to 1956, Joe Pool felt he needed a bigger stage in order to enact the changes he and his supporters felt necessary to alleviate longtime constituent problems that could not be adequately addressed at the state level. The solutions to many of these size problems required approval from a much larger government body with a much larger audience, the federal government. Pool  saw in federal jurisdiction the quantities of available funds and the problem solving apparatus he felt necessary to effect the changes in government policy that would aid the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Unfortunately for Pool, his next three elections, two for U.S. Congressman from Dallas County in 1958, 1960, and one for Dallas City Councilman in 1959 were unsuccessful.^[5] Ever the optimist he was not deterred.

Longtime Friends Resurface    Kennedy - Johnson - Pool 1960 Dallas County Ticket[]

However painful the 1960 Dallas County U.S. Congress race loss was for Pool personally, unbeknownst to him at the time, there was one outcropping from this election that would end up making the loss bittersweet. Pool's inclusion on the 1960 Dallas County Democratic Ticket with presidential candidate U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts and vice-presidential candidate U.S. Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas became a fateful encounter for Pool's earlier promises to find a solution to one of his pet projects that were not yet on his radar. The events sparked by this 1960 reunion between old friends Kennedy, Johnson, and Pool would allow Pool in the coming months to formulate his idea for a solution to the problem that he had promised to solve more than once. Pool's solution would forever change the Dallas-Fort Worth growth landscape impacting millions of new residents and businesses long after Pool's death in 1968.

During the 1960 Dallas County U.S. Congress race Joe Pool was the Democratic nominee trying to unseat the popular three-term conservative Republican incumbent Bruce Alger. At the time Alger was the sole Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the southern part of the United States. Alger and the Dallas Republicans painted Pool, a longtime conservative Democrat, as a liberal protege of Kennedy and Johnson who they branded as a traitor to the south for his running on Kennedy's ticket. Because Dallas tended to vote conservatively in the 1950s, the odds of the Kennedy-Johnson-Pool ticket winning Dallas County in November 1960 were very long.

Pool's friendship with Johnson developed through Johnson's wife, Lady Bird Johnson, the former Claudia Alta Taylor who Pool served with when he was chairman of the University of Texas Judiciary Council in the early 1930s. While in the legislature “Pool introduced the measure that helped shift the state primary to May so that U. S. Senator Lyndon Johnson could run for re-election and the Democratic presidential nomination simultaneously in 1960.”^[13][14]

According to a letter written by U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts to Pool, Kennedy's affection for his friend Joe Pool is best expressed through an October 19, 1960 letter to Pool sizing up their campaign at that juncture. Kennedy states to Pool “Dear Joe, I need not tell you that this campaign has been and will continue to be difficult to the end. Your support of the national ticket is essential if we are to win a popular verdict. As your national candidates, Senator Johnson and I also wish to assure you of our confidence in your own campaign. We believe that your efforts will be a contributing factor in achieving a solid Democrat majority in the key administration offices of the fifty states and in the congress. Let me at this time express my appreciation for your support and my earnest hope that in January we shall have the opportunity to work together, as elected representatives of the people, toward achieving the goals to which the Democratic Party is dedicated. With warm personal regards, John F. Kennedy.”[3]

With regards to Republican Bruce Alger, Kennedy and Johnson wanted no more Republican proliferation in the Democratic-controlled south in 1960. Joe Pool was their best hope in reversing the Republican southern strategy at their Dallas oasis. Because of the Dallas wariness of Kennedy-Johnson at the top of the ticket, Pool trailed Alger severely going into the final days of the 1960 campaign. About 3 days before the November election however, an incident in downtown Dallas marked Bruce Alger's political career forevermore.. As authors Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis relate in their book Dallas 1963 Wanted for Treason. “In many ways Bruce Alger’s political career remains defined by the searing moment out on the streets of Dallas in November 1960-- when the world saw startling images of petite Lady Bird Johnson, her face twisted in fear and then anger, as the mink coat mob swirled around her, some spitting and pushing and screaming.” ^[18] T.V. news reports nationally carried the repugnant scene of Congressman Alger and his Republican female fan club known as “ the Alger Girls” (mink coat mob) harassing a vice presidential candidate's wife. The city's image had paid a price. According to Pool's son, Wesley, the phones at their residence were non-stop ringing with many Republicans noting their displeasure of the scene their congressman had staged for Lady Bird and Senator Johnson.^[19]

In October 1963, three years after the Johnson protest, “Pool reflected on the 1960 incident in an interview with The Dallas Morning News reporter Bob Baskin.. Baskin asked Pool how President Kennedy’s upcoming November visit to Dallas will compare with the reception with Alger’s protest of Kennedy’s Vice President running-mate Lyndon Johnson and his wife Lady Bird in the 1960 campaign. Pool states “I feel that he is the President of the United States and believe that the people of Texas will extend to him a courteous reception. I am sure that he will not have any discourteous demonstrations, such as occurred in Dallas in 1960 during a visit of our Vice President, Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife. Everyone, both Democrats and Republicans, regrets the 1960 incident, and I for one am hopeful that his visit will receive a typical Texas welcome.” ^[18]

In part because of the negative publicity of “ the Alger Girls”  incident, Pool, with only a few thousand dollars in contributions, had dramatically closed the polling gap but still lost his congressional race to Alger. However, at the top of the ticket that Pool had supported, his friends Kennedy and Johnson won their elections as president and vice president. In publicly condemning Alger's discourteous behavior, Pool had defended his friends possibly at his own peril. Pool's conviction endeared him to Kennedy and Johnson which, in later years after Pool won the statewide  U.S. Congressman- At - Large election to the U.S. House in 1962, would bode well for projects in Pool's future legislative agenda. The 1960 campaign had galvanized the three men's friendship.

A Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates’ Invitation[]

The out- cropping / by- product of the1960 campaign was Senators Kennedy and Johnson's September 23, 1960 invitation to Joe Pool, via their director U.S. Representative Frank E. Smith of Mississippi, to join their newly established Kennedy-Johnson Natural Resources Advisory Committee. With this prestigious invitation citizen Pool finally saw the pathway open to the bigger stage and audience he had sought for his flood control projects for the Trinity River and its tributaries. Pool gladly accepted Kennedy and Johnson's invitation to join their national committee.[4]

In announcing his committee's formation Senator Kennedy states “Vigorous action is needed if we are to conserve and develop America’s natural resources. An aggressive, affirmative policy in this field will be one of the major goals of my administration. I am, accordingly, very pleased to announce the establishment of a natural resource advisory committee to aid me in the presidential campaign and to submit plans for action by my administration.

Active members of the committee will be named from every state in the Union to ensure  that there will be presented to me a full picture of the varied needs of our great country.”^[20][5]

Joe Pool’s Report to the Kennedy- Johnson Natural Resources Advisory Committee[]

Joe Pool spent the next 2 months immersing himself into the flood control data that he had compiled when he was in the legislature co- authoring the Trinity River Act of 1955.^[15] He updated his flood research to 1960 with all of North Texas creeks and streams that were likely flood prone suspects. What Pool formulated from his research grew into a flood control report for North Texas. Pool's survey included his analysis of these flood prone watersheds and his recommendation of what corrections the federal government should enact to alleviate flooding in these watersheds.

On December 15, 1960, committee member Pool mailed his report to the Kennedy-Johnson Natural Resources Advisory Committee in Washington D.C. In his report Pool advocated for a navigation canal  for shipping on the Trinity River from Fort Worth to the Gulf of Mexico which was a popular idea in the 1950s and 1960s before it fell out of public favor in the 1970s.  He calls out “polluter cities” in the 18,000 square mile Trinity Basin that is the result of insufficient policing of the watershed and inadequate water conservation facilities. Pool favored more state control of rivers totally within Texas borders. He commented on the most recent City of Dallas water study. Pool states, “One of the salient features of this report calls for the construction of a reservoir on the Elm Fork of the Trinity River upstream from the existing Garza-Little Elm project. Another calls for a similar reservoir in Denton Creek upstream from the Grapevine project.”[6]

On December 16, 1960, a letter to Pool from Committee Director U.S. Rep. Frank E. Smith of Mississippi confirmed Pool's appointment to Senator Kennedy's committee. [7] After over 30 years of trying, Pool was now granted the grand stage where the audience included his friends the 1960 President and Vice President elects. Pool had been seeking help in finding a solution for his adopted flood control project, the Mountain Creek/Walnut Creek watershed. Pool knew his promises might  fall on deaf ears if he, an attorney, could not make his case in his closing argument to Kennedy, Johnson, and his fellow committee members of the worthiness of his idea to control flooding in this watershed.

Joe Pool’s Idea to Solve MountainCreek/Walnut Creek Flooding[]

Near the end of his report Joe Pool suggests, “the Federal Government heretofore recognized the tremendous damage that has occurred from time to time by reason of severe flooding both in Dallas and Fort Worth and it has done a worthwhile job in improving the Dallas-Fort Worth floodways as well as constructing flood control reservoirs on Elm Fork, Denton Creek, and Clear Fork, all tributaries of the main river. However, there is a remaining stream below Dallas that is uncontrolled--Mountain Creek. This stream embraces a drainage area of 300 square miles and presently has no flood control whatsoever.  I believe that a project should be undertaken on this stream not only for flood control but for such conservation as can be economically justified.”[8]

The Kennedy-Johnson Natural Resources Committee's secretary Shurlee McGloon sent Pool a letter confirming her receipt, on behalf of Rep. Frank E. Smith ( the committee's director) of Pool's report to the committee. In the December 20, 1960 letter to Pool McGloon states, “On behalf of Congressman Smith who is out of town, I am acknowledging receipt of your recent letter in which you set out your recommendations to the Natural Resources Advisory Committee. Your proposals have been referred to the subcommittee for study.” [9] Citizen Pool felt a sigh of relief that his 30-year promise might see fulfillment in the not too distant future.

Unfulfilled Promise- Frustration with Committee Speed[]

Throughout 1961 citizen Pool was a bit disappointed with the speed of this national committee in taking up members’ suggestions of worthwhile flood control and forestry preservation projects such as his Mountain Creek/Walnut Creek recommendation. From 1961 through 1962 these longtime, flood impacted property owners in this watershed did not witness much help coming their way. That would change in November, 1962 with the statewide election of Joe Pool as U.S. Congressman-At-Large of Texas.

Mr. Pool Goes to Washington[]

Unlike representing At-Large Place 5 in Dallas County for 6 years in the  1950s legislature, where his county-wide constituency was approximately several hundred thousand,  Pool now represented over 10 million constituents. By representing the whole State of Texas Pool's influence in federal projects gave him more influence than a regular congressman from a smaller district and constituency. The fact that he was well acquainted with the current occupants of the White House combined with Pool's innate persuasiveness made his pet projects more likely to get quick approval.

Monitoring Project’s Progress[]

On January 9, 1963, the birthday of one of his four sons, John, Pool was sworn in the U.S. House of Representatives.^[21] Soon after taking the oath Pool started monitoring the progress of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ study they made at Pool's suggestion in his 1960 report on the flooding problem in the Mountain Creek/Walnut Creek watershed. Pool made sure this project of interest to him received the Corps utmost attention regarding surveying, engineering, funding allocations, and future studies for a flood control and water storage project in this watershed.

U.S. Corps of Engineers Concurs with Pool’s 1960 Recommendation  Funding Starts[]

Two and a half years later and after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers concurred to the feasibility of his proposed project, Texas U.S. Congressman-At-Large Joe Pool led the fight for congressional funding for the construction of his lake idea, which he named Lakeview Reservoir. Funds were first appropriated by congress on September 21, 1965, in the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1965.^[22] Congressman Pool's 35 year old promise had now been given legitimacy from the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. The flood control and water conservation promise finally moved forward with a surveying and engineering budget in tow.

Birth of Lakeview ( Joe Pool ) Planning Council[]

On January 17, 1968, U.S. Representative Pool brought together in his Washington office delegations from all the municipalities bordering Lakeview Reservoir, the officials of the U.S. Corps of Engineers and U.S. Department of Public Works to discuss the planned reservoir. At the suggestion of U.S. Representative Pool a Lakeview (later Joe Pool^[3]) Planning Council, composed of representatives from the municipal delegations and from the state and federal agencies involved, was formed and took as its goal the orderly development of the area around the lake.

Death of Congressman Joe Pool     Lake Baton Dropped[]

Congressman Joe Pool died in Houston's Hobby International Airport July 14, 1968 while serving his House Post Office Subcommittee while on a postal inspection tour of postal facilities in Los Angeles, California and Houston, Texas.^[23] Texas State Senator and lifetime friend Jimmy Phillips of Angleton, Texas in his eulogy of Pool at Pool's funeral in Oak Cliff (Dallas) said “It is ironic that he was cut down at the zenith of his career. He gave his life for his country.”^[10] On the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, Republican Minority Leader and future U.S. President, Representative Gerald Ford of Michigan referred to Rep. Pool as "a real patriot greatly interested in our national security, deeply concerned about elements he thought were undermining our nation."^[6] In paying tribute to his longtime friend Joe Pool, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson said " I am saddened over the untimely death of Rep. Joe Pool. As a member of Congress and before that as a member of the Texas State Legislature-- Joe Pool served with dedication and love of his country".^[24]

Renaming Lakeview Lake for Its  Creator Joe Pool[]

After the death of Congressman Pool the Lakeview Planning Council, the council that Pool formed to guide the cities bordering the lake to obtain orderly development around the lake, passed a resolution, first on August 21, 1968, asking the Texas U.S. congressional delegation to change the name of Lakeview Lake to Joe Pool Reservoir. The planning council passed a second name change resolution on February 19, 1969.^[3] But because a new administration came to Washington that frowned on water project funding, the funding for Lakeview was cut severely in the congressional budgets from 1970 to 1976. The lakes status was in doubt also during this period from lawsuits stemming from environmental groups and from property owners that opposed selling their land to the U.S. Corps of Engineers for the lake to be built.

Finally on February 4, 1982, the Lakeview Planning Council passed unanimously a third resolution asking Congressman Martin Frost and Congressman Phil Gramm “to initiate the steps necessary to effectuate this name change to Joe Pool Lake.” On February 15, 1982,  David Clayton, President of the Lakeview Planning Council, sent letters to both Congressman Gramm and Congressman Frost citing the lakes new name as Joe Pool Lake.

In Washington, another longtime friend of Pool's, fellow Oak Cliff High alum and majority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives James (Jim) Wright led the passage of HR7377, “Joe Pool Lake” through the House of Representatives on a unanimous consent vote on December 7, 1982.[10] U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen ushered HR7377 “Joe Pool Lake” through the U.S. Senate, also with a unanimous consent vote. It passed the U.S. Senate on December 19, 1982.[11] After President Ronald W. Reagan signed HR7377 on December 31, 1982, Joe Pool Lake became law.^[4]

Lake Baton Picked Up By Pool’s Friends[]

When Joe Pool died, he had left at least one of his important initiatives undone: Mountain Creek Project. Fortunately, Joe Pool's friends in congress and on the Joe Pool Planning Council kept Pool's lake idea alive for him and his former constituents. The project received additional funding in 1967 and was in the planning stages when Richard Nixon became president in 1969. The Nixon administration eliminated most spending for water conservation projects and Pool's dream was put on the back burner for several years. Eventually, under President Ford ( who as Republican minority leader in 1968, eulogized Democratic friend Joe Pool on the U.S. of  Representatives floor)^[6] partial funding was restored. The project stalled again, though, as actions brought by environmentalists tied it up in court in the mid-1970s. Under the Carter administration, full funding was acquired and the Lakeview Lake Project at Mountain Creek began construction in 1977.^[13] The two bridges over Mountain Creek and Walnut Creek were started in 1981. Dam construction was completed in December, 1985. Water impoundment started in January, 1986. By June, 1989 Joe Pool Lake was full.^[5]

Joe Pool Becomes a National Figure    U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee[]

In early 1966 Joe Pool served as acting chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee when it conducted hearings investigating the Ku Klux Klan.^{[14][25][26][27][28][29]}

Pool again became a national figure in August later that year when he was named to chair a subcommittee that would hold hearings on his bill to make it a federal crime to aid anyone engaged in an armed conflict against the United States. Pool subpoenaed the war protest organizations and their leaders who resisted the Vietnam War by collecting money for North Vietnam or by blocking troop trains.”^{[13][14][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]} Most of the national magazines, local and national newspapers, as well as national TV evening news covered both controversial hearings.

Joe Pool’s Job Performance and Ranking on the Political Spectrum?[]

Moderate Conservative    From an April 30, 1964 Dallas Times Herald Editorial

--

A Unique Post

One of the most difficult assignments in Congress is that of congressman-at-large from any state, particularly Texas with its size and varied economic interests. This hybrid post crops up every 10 years because state legislatures either cannot, because of limited time, or will not redistrict to conform with population increases revealed by the federal census.

The Times Herald feels that Joe Pool of Dallas has served well in this unique office. He was elected in 1962 and he deserves re-election to this post which will be abolished December 31, 1965, after the Legislature completes the redistricting job.

Pool carried to Washington the same willingness to work and study which characterized his tenure in the Texas Legislature. He has been a hard working member of the House Un-American Activities and Postal Committees--two prize assignments for a freshman congressman.

Pool is respected by most Democrats and Republicans in the House. He has cooperated with other Texas congressmen in solving the legislative problems of their districts--including Dallas--and Texas. He is a moderate conservative who deserves re-election.^[37]

A Tight Squeeze As a Middle-Roader   The Dallas Morning News April 29, 1965 Column

The Hon. Joe Pool of Dallas has won two elections as congressman-at-large by substantial majorities. But he sometimes wonders where all that support comes from. Pool relates there’s an old political expression, “I’ve got friends on both sides, and I stand by my friends.”

The large congressman-at-large has had harsh criticism aimed at him from the left and from the right.

In Washington, Rep. Prentiss Walker, a freshman Republican representative from Mississippi, called  Pool a “leftist.” This was during debate on Pool's resolution to have his Un-American Activities subcommittee investigate the Ku Klux Klan.

Last year, Robert W. Baker of Houston, who had liberal backing, promised to be a staunch supporter of President Johnson's program. He said Pool would vote to repudiate the President. Baker also accused Pool of having support of Republicans. In the general election campaign, however, Pool's Republican opponent called him a “counterfeit Confederate.”

Pool, a man of generous belt-line, is finding things, a tight squeeze as a middle-roader.^[38]

Get Your Joe Pool Campaign Buttons Here   The Dallas Times Herald Cartoon by Bob Taylor November 5, 1967 ^[39][12]

Joe Pool Legacies[]

On a personal level, Pool throughout his career took great pride in his Washington, Dallas, Austin, and other U.S. Congressional and Texas Legislative Offices. Constituent service was paramount to office holder Joe Pool. Over the years Pool's staff received many accolades for their professionalism and decorum. Pool mentored office staff to overachieve when working for their real bosses, the constituents. Even after Pool died Mrs. Patty Tyson, Pool's top Washington aid, while packing up the closing office, said “the staff had caught up on constituents mail.” As for Pool's “ office motto of overachievement for our constituents” and Pool's mentorship to his staff, Tyson offered this parting evidence of Pool's memorable impact on people's lives. “One of Pool’s aides, a young Negro named Bill Price, has enrolled in the first class of the new Federal City College which opens here next week. He will be editor of the college newspaper, Mrs. Tyson reported.”^[40]

Joe Pool as Texas State Representative 1953–1959

Co-Authored Trinity River Authority Act^[13][15][41]

Chairman of Motor Traffic Committee and House Investigating Committee

Authored Humane Society Legislation^[15][16][17]

Authored Legislation Requiring Insurance Law Reforms^[13][15]

Passed Bill Outlawing Lewd and Horror Comic Books^[13][14][15]

Delegate to County and State Democratic Conventions, 1952–1960

Authored Legislation for Various Flood Control Projects^[15]

Joe Pool as U.S. Congressman 1963–1968

Originated Lakeview Lake (now Joe Pool Lake)^{[3][4][13][14][22][42]}

Authored Bill Establishing Oak Cliff Main Mail Center for Dallas^{[41][43][44][45]}

Authored Legislation Creating Guadalupe Mountains National Park in West Texas^{[44][46][47][48]}

Passed Act Ensuring U.S. Troops in Vietnam Receive Prompt Mail Delivery^[49][50]

Co-authored Bill Creating New Dallas Federal Building (now Earle Cabell Federal Building)^[41][44]

Co-Sponsored Law Establishing Padre Island National Seashore Funding

Chaired Subcommittee Investigations into Ku Klux Klan Activities^{[14][25][26][27][28][29]}

War Protest Groups While as Member of House Un-American Activities Committee^{[13][14][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]}

L.B.J. Delegates (with wife Elizabeth) to 1964 National Democratic Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey

One of the Largest Constituencies in the History of U.S. House of Representatives

Over 10 Million People, as Texas's and U.S. Last Congressman-At-Large from 1963 through 1967^[5]

Chaired Subcommittee of U.S. Postal and Civil Service Committee^{[6][41][43][45]}

(Congressman Pool died in the line of duty on July 14, 1968, in the service of this committee, while on a postal inspection tour in Houston, Texas)^{[6][7][8][9][10][23][24]}

Authored Bill to Establish the Army-Airforce International Post Exchange Headquarters in Oak Cliff ( Dallas)^[41]

Co-Sponsored Funding Bills for Land Acquisition of 18,000 Acres to Develop Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport^[51]

A Promise Kept          Joe Pool Lake Dedication[]

After 60 years, through the determination of Joe Pool's congressional friends and the many members of the Lakeview (Joe Pool) Planning Council, Pool's promise of flood control for the Mountain/Walnut Creek watershed was made good to the affected property owners.

“On May 24, 1986 with the lake approximately half full and still several years away from being opened to the public, a ceremony was held to dedicate the new Joe Pool Lake. 1500 people attended,  including Representative Jim Wright who, among others, had helped keep the project alive through the years. There was food, music, cannons, and speeches. Joe Pool would have been proud to have been there.”^[13][42]

Parks and recreation[]

Joe Pool Lake includes a number of parks, paved boat ramps and parking lots, public swimming areas, a public marina as well a second marina located inside Cedar Hill State Park. Other parks include Britton Park, Loyd Park, and Lynn Creek Park.

Lynn Creek Marina[]

A marina and restaurant located on the north side of the lake, just off Lake Ridge Parkway near the Lynn Creek Park entrance. The Lynn Creek Marina has more than 500 wet slips for fishing, pleasure and sail boats; boat rentals; an indoor-outdoor fishing area; and the Oasis restaurant.

Water Resources[]

Joe Pool lake is mostly fed by Mountain Creek and Walnut Creek and drains north into Mountain Creek leading into Mountain Creek Lake. Joe Pool Lake is one of the few lakes in Texas that actually drains to the north. Joe Pool lake impounds water in two arms formed by Mountain Creek and Walnut Creek. The Mountain Creek Water Shed is in the Upper Trinity River Basin and has a length of 37 miles (60 km) and a total drainage area of 304 square miles (787 km²).

Currently (2005) Joe Pool Lake serves as a reservoir for the City of Midlothian for their public water supply. Several other entities have water interests in Joe Pool Lake, but are not currently using the water resources. The City of Midlothian has a water intake structure in the southeast leg of the lake. They consume water at a daily rate anywhere from 1 million US gallons (3,800 m³) in the winter months to 9 million US gallons (34,000 m³) in the summer months. The Trinity River Authority of Texas also has a water intake structure in Cedar Hill State Park, but it currently not in use.

Fishing[]

Fishing Regulations[]

Most species are currently managed with statewide regulations. The exception is a 14 to 21-inch (530 mm) slot limit on largemouth bass. Anglers may keep bass that are 14 inches (360 mm) or less in length, or 21 inches (530 mm) or greater. Daily bag for all species of black bass is 5 in combination, but only one largemouth bass 21 inches (530 mm) or greater may be retained each day.

Stocking history[]

Species	Year	Number stocked	Size
Bass, Florida Largemouth	2006	325,681	Fingerling
Bass, Florida Largemouth	2005	317,036	Fingerling
Bass, Florida Largemouth	2001	182,049	Fingerling
Bass, Florida Largemouth	1987	203,315	Fingerling
Bass, Florida Largemouth	1986	248,256	Fingerling
Bass, Florida Largemouth	1986	417,554	Fry
Bass, Florida Largemouth	1984	2,700	Fingerling
Bass, Florida Largemouth	1981	2,970	Fry
Bluegill, Coppernose	1986	5,290
Bluegill, Coppernose	1985	125,000
Bluegill, Coppernose	1981	19,950
Catfish, Channel	1986	546,900	Fingerling
Catfish, Channel	1986	203,100	Fry
Shad, Threadfin	1981	1,080

Comments:

Joe Pool lake opened with tremendous fishing pressure because it lies within 30 miles (48 km) of four million people. Restrictive limits were put in place to protect the fish from overharvest and fishing has remained good to this point.

All-ages records[]

Rod & Reel

Species	Weight	Length	Date	Angler	Bait or lure
Bass, Largemouth	12.89 lb (5.85 kg)	24.00 in (610 mm)	March 5, 2006	Robert Gaston
Bass, White	1.94 lb (0.88 kg)	17.00 in (432 mm)	June 18, 2005	David Hartnett
Bluegill	0.38 lb (0.17 kg)	8.25 in (210 mm)	September 8, 2005	Chad Edwards	freelined corn
Bullhead, Yellow	1.57 lb (0.71 kg)	15.25 in (387 mm)	April 2, 2006	Alissa Lewis	worm
Carp, Common	12.02 lb (5.45 kg)	32.00 in (813 mm)	January 26, 2005	Chad Edwards	freelined bread
Carp, Grass	32.00 lb (14.51 kg)	40.00 in (1,016 mm)	June 5, 1997	Alex Alatorre	homemade dough bait
Catfish, Channel	10.89 lb (4.94 kg)	28.00 in (711 mm)	November 18, 2006	Trace Neatherlin	cut bait
Crappie, Black	2.03 lb (0.92 kg)	15.00 in (381 mm)	May 2, 2004	Scott Pekrul	splittail spinner
Crappie, White	2.59 lb (1.17 kg)	16.75 in (425 mm)	June 30, 1990	George T. Hearn
Drum, Freshwater	2.10 lb (0.95 kg)	14.50 in (368 mm)	September 6, 2004	Germain Gardea	shiner
Sunfish, Green	0.65 lb (0.29 kg)	10.00 in (254 mm)	May 12, 1990	Richard Collins
Sunfish, Longear	0.06 lb (0.027 kg)	4.81 in (122 mm)	September 10, 1995	Jay Largent

Fly Fishing

Species	Weight	Length	Date	Angler	Bait or Lure
Bass, White	0.72	12.50	July 26, 2005	Howell Dodd	clouser
Sunfish, Green	0.42	8.31	July 3, 2003	Jody Moore	popping bug

Bow Fishing

Species	Weight	Length	Date	Angler	Bait or Lure
Buffalo, Smallmouth	16.30	27.50	December 26, 2005	Bennett Crow
Carp, Common	21.13	34.25	December 10, 2006	Bennett Crow

Junior angler records[]

Rod & Reel

Species	Weight	Length	Date	Angler	Bait or Lure
Bullhead, Yellow	1.57	15.25	April 2, 2006	Alissa Lewis	worm
Carp, Common	6.06	0.00	May 13, 2006	Trey Edwards III	boiled maize
Catfish, Channel	7.15	25.75	August 5, 2005	Alissa Lewis	worm

Fishing tips[]

Marked brush piles offer habitat in the lower end of the reservoir which are often good for both bass and crappie. Crappie fishing is also good under the bridges on both arms of the lake. In the Walnut Creek arm, the old creek channel is a good place to look for bass.

Fishing quality[]

• Largemouth bass: 3 of 5
• Catfish: 2 of 5
• Crappie: 3 of 5
• Sunfish: 2 of 5

Facilities[]

The TRA maintains excellent day use and overnight public recreation facilities. The only free boat ramp on the lake is at Britton Park on the upper end of the Mountain Creek Arm, although it is $5 to park. Cedar Hill State Park (214/291-3900) on the east side of the lake has the second most campsites of any facility in the state park system. It also has lighted fishing piers, boat ramps and group shelters. Local anglers complain that state park gates do not open until 8 a.m. daily.

Fishing reports[]

Fishing reports for Joe Pool lake can be found at the Texas Parks and Wildlife website here:^[52]

Joe Pool Lake Archaeological Project[]

Several archaeological investigations have been carried out in the Joe Pool Lake project area since 1977. The first phase of study, conducted between 1977 and 1979, identified 42 archaeological and historical sites in the vicinity of the then proposed Lakeview Lake, since renamed Joe Pool. The study was conducted by archaeologists from Southern Methodist University and was funded by the federal government through the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District. Archaeological properties identified at that time included small, briefly occupied camps of prehistoric hunter/gatherers, several larger reoccupied prehistoric camps, a small prehistoric village, an ante-bellum plantation, several large post-Civil War farmsteads, and a number of late nineteenth-century farmsteads with standing buildings.

Archaeological investigations in the Joe Pool Lake area have involved both conservation and rescue archaeology. The extensive architectural and archaeological deposits at the John Wesley Penn farmstead, for example, were investigated and documented. Similar conservation oriented investigations were conducted at five other historic sites located on major lake shore parks. The Cobb- Pool site, on the other hand, received major rescue archaeology efforts to recover important information from this Late Prehistoric small village settlement. Four other prehistoric and seven other historic sites also received rescue archaeology operations directed at identifying important remains and recovering data useful for fulfilling the questions outlined in the research design presented earlier. All of these studies have been funded by the U.S. Corps of Engineers (Fort Worth District), the primary sponsor behind the construction of Joe Pool Lake. From these investigations, we have gained a few more insights into the history and prehistory of the Mountain Creek area. Excavations of historic farmsteads have indicated that many mid- and late nineteenth century families lived in well constructed, frame dwellings. Log buildings were not as common as once believed. Both Dallas and Fort Worth attracted sawmills along the Trinity River bottomlands and sawn lumber was available to most families by the 1850s.

The artifacts recovered from excavations of the yard areas around dwellings have also provided us with some insights into family life and household possessions. Home canning using the glass fruit jar indicates a break from older traditional foodways by the turn-of-the-century (i.e., 1900). Animal bones indicate a strong reliance on beef rather than on the more traditional pork. Both of these pieces of evidence support the dominance of a Midwestern orientation of foodways that diverges from most Texas counties to the south. The plain white ceramic tablewares and the low consumption of bottle glass for the same period, on the other hand, both correspond more closely with Southern traditions. One message is clear from these studies. Both human adaptations (culture and technology) and the natural environment have changed tremendously over the last 12,000 years. From the evidence of the earliest sites found that were occupied some 6,000 years ago, up to the first American settlers about 140 years ago, the Mountain Creek area has been affected by nature's relentless fluctuations. The archaeological investigations sponsored by the United States Army Corps of Engineers at Joe Pool have provided a few brief glimpses into the rich record of human history and prehistory of this area. Time's march never ceases and in another thousand years, future generations may be equally interested in our own society and its archaeological remains.

For more information and to view the entire investigation please see.^[53]

See also[]

• Trinity River Authority

References[]

• Cedar Hill State Park and Joe Pool Marina
• Tangle Ridge Golf Club
• Army Corps of Engineers Joe Pool lake
• Areas of Outdoor Interest
• Lynn Creek Marina
• Handbook of Texas Online
• SMU Archaeological and Historical Investigations of Joe Pool lake
• Cabins at Loyd Park on Joe Pool lake
• Dallas Morning News Article ID 0ED3CDCE9CEF65D0 Publish Date: December 22, 1985
• City of Grand Prairie Lynn Creek Park on Lake Joe Pool Offers Free Entry to Grand Prairie Residents^{[permanent dead link]}

External links[]

• Cedar Hill State Park and Joe Pool Marina
• U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Joe Pool Lake
• Joe Pool lake dot Org Website
• Loyd Park
• Lynn Creek Park
• Information about all of the Lake's amenities