1940s View from Table Rock – still no dam

 James Fork of the White  No Responses »
Aug 102022
 

Into the 1940s, visitors continued to visit and pose for photographs on the flat rock above the White River valley – where there was still no sign of earth-moving equipment, much less a towering blockage to the stream.

That stretch of river was promoted as a dam site by Henry Doherty, Empire District Electric Company, even before Taneycomo, his first successful White River project, had finished filling.  Table Rock, described as “probably the most scenic spot in Taney County,” in a Springfield Republican article, Feb. 1922, would be the location of his next dam he announced. There he proposed the erection of a 200-foot-high dam, which “would create a lake 100 miles in length and extend up the James to Galena.”

A lot happened in America between 1922 and 1958 (a Great Depression, a World War, a New Deal, Korean war) when Table Rock Dam was finally completed. Even those averse to Corps of Engineers projects cannot doubt its engineers are well trained. Between 1929 and 1948, the Corps of Engineers completed surveys of 180 rivers in 176 separate reports and submitted them to Congress. Not only did Army personnel boat and wade streams, but they also consulted with private power companies, academics, and other agencies.

The federal government ultimately took dam building away from private companies in the late 1930s. World War II and then Korea delayed construction of many projects. Again, local dam advocates became nervous that the feds would repeat the stalling tactics of Empire District Electric. However, the once-dam-averse Army Corps of Engineers ultimately changed the free-flowing White River into a series of reservoirs.

 

From James Fork of the White: Transformation of an Ozark River, 352 pages with more than 400 color illustrations, examines the entire watershed of the famed Ozark float stream, a tributary of the White River. Lens & Pen Press is having a half-price sale for all titles. James Fork is now available on our website at www.dammingtheosage.com for $17.50 (half the original price of $35), postage paid.

 

 

View from Table Rock – pre-dam, 1920s

 James Fork of the White, Uncategorized  No Responses »
Jul 082022
 

Real photo postcard, 1920s, by Payne Johnson, Branson Mo.

The white lettering on the card can be hard to read. It says, “Table Rock Dam will be built across the big sand bar.” And so -eventually – it was.

Most bluffs along Ozark rivers are named. Table Rock Bluff had a relatively flat top (hence the name). The spot was accessible by road and afforded an impressive view of the pre-dam river valley. Fro generations, a visit to this overlook was on many vacationers’ itinerary.

In 1922, Empire District Electric applied for and received a preliminary permit to build a large dam at Table Rock, five miles southwest of Hollister. World War I had concluded satisfactorily, and Americans were optimistic about the prospects of better living through technology.

Still, it would be thirty-six more years before the lower James River became the James River arm of Table Rock Lake. For decades locals anticipated seeing machinery below building a huge dam. That this didn’t occur frustrated dam supporters and led them to question if the utility really intended to proceed. During that time utility companies constructed three hydroelectric dams within the Osage River system after Powersite Dam (1911-1913). None of the much-publicized private projects in the White River basin would go forward.

From James Fork of the White: Transformation of an Ozark River, 352 pages with more than 400 color illustrations, which examines the entire watershed of the famed Ozark float stream, a tributary of the White River. Lens & Pen Press is having a half-price sale for all titles. James Fork is now available on our website at www.dammingtheosage.com for $17.50 (half the original price of $35), postage paid.

BURIED BY TABLE ROCK – fascinating reveal of life before the lake

 Uncategorized  No Responses »
Jul 022018
 

Most often reviews of books are done when the book is first published. So this review of Buried by Table Rock: Tales, anecdotes and facts about everything covered by the lake is late in coming, although Koob has recently published a revised edition. However, we discovered this small volume as we researched James Fork of the White, and it has been more than useful. It is a modestly published book, but an invaluable resource.

Tom Koob dug into newspapers, government records and—most importantly—he talked with the people, drove the roads, climbed the remaining hills, found the remnants of summer camps along the river. He gathered rare images to illustrate both past and present reality. He scanned the flat waters covering a once-peopled landscape and searched out the families and towns that once occupied it. River guides, mill families, and farmers recalled life with a river that gave them recreation, transportation, danger and sustenance. Nostalgic memories are tinged with regret at the loss of their river.

He identifies the visible remnants of places he describes in the text:

“Two small islands can be seen to the north from the Long Creek Bridge. The larger island is the top of Goat Hill, the site of the small town of Oasis. The smaller island, where a handful of trees cling tenaciously, is the peak of the slope that rose behind the town.”

Our own environments have become more homogeneous. We have Homeowners Association suburbs with architectural and landscaping covenants; uniformity of fashion in national chain department store shopping centers; even local government policies aspiring to emulate those of major urban centers—sameness creeps over daily life and we hardly notice. But the lives and landscape Koob describes are regionally specific and adapted to Ozarks geography. As he said so clearly:

I have come to realize though, that the real story is something else. It is the story of a rugged land and rugged people. It is a tale of a somewhat isolated culture thrust into a modern world not necessarily of its own choosing.

The final pages have photos of the rising waters covering landmarks in the White River basin—Stallions Bluff, the Bridge at Mash Hollow at Cape Fair, and the James River Bridge at Cape Fair.

Those who read Tom Koob’s book will never look at Table Rock Reservoir the same way again.

You can find Tom Koob on Facebook  His newest book is a historical novel, Virgin Bluff. He has just published a revised edition of Buried by Table Rock. His books (The History of Fishing Table Rock; Buried by Table Rock; and Enon to Radium Springs) are available on Amazon Kindle

Delights of Road Trip Research

 Uncategorized  No Responses »
Aug 022017
 

As the release date of James Fork of the White approaches, I’ll be posting some samples of what you will find in the book. All research is not done in libraries or other books.  To write a book on a river, you have to learn the river, its people and places. Over the last several years, we have explored the watershed of the James, its tributaries – large and small, the byways, backroads and the small and large towns of its landscape.

We met people and pets, sportsmen with their catches and families recreating on the banks of creeks, playing at Table Rock, or floating the river. We found remnants of past mercantile enterprises. We ate chicken at Crane’s Broiler Fest, joined the crowds at River Jam and sought out the source of the river in Webster County.

Greene, Christian, Barry, Stone, Webster, and Taney counties. Creeks and larger streams. Dams that slow or halt the flow; a dam that wasn’t built. Drainage systems and sewage treatment. We visited them all…

Railroads, highways, dam projects, tourism, the growth of towns, agriculture, industry, media and art, political will, and cultural values—all interact. The river we see today is an outcome of all these forces. Even though transformed, and still changing, the watershed of the James Fork of the White is still in many places scenic and beautiful, and where it lacks aesthetics, it is interesting.

James Fork of the White, introduction

Lens & Press Blog Moving to Word Press

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Apr 182017
 

We’re moving our Lens & Pen Press blog from Blogger to Word Press and will consolidate the two current blogs into one for our books–the Beautiful and Enduring Ozarks, the James Fork of the White (coming 2017), Damming the Osage, Mystery of the Irish Wilderness and See the Ozarks–and many other favorite topics of discussion. The archive of L&P posts is still available at http://lensandpen.blogspot.com/ The posts on our separate Damming the Osage website remain available at http://www.dammingtheosage.com/the-blog/

To bridge this move from one platform to another, below is the most recent (Blogger) post about Table Rock and the pre-dam White River landscape:

TABLE ROCK – BLUFF AND DAM

Shortly after Empire District Electric built Powersite Dam across the White River, creating Lake Taneycomo, the big electric company announced plans to build a 200-foot dam upriver at Table Rock Bluff.

“Table Rock Dam will be built across the big sandbar,” reads the handwritten caption.
Real photo postcard, 1920s, by Payne Johnson, Branson, Mo.

Most bluffs along Ozark rivers are named. Table Rock Bluff had a relatively flat top and was accessible by road. A visit to this overlook was on many vacationers’ itinerary.  For decades locals anticipated seeing machinery in the valley below building a huge dam.  That this never occurred frustrated dam supporters and led them to question if the utility really intended to proceed. They didn’t.

The Army Corps would build Table Rock Dam many years later but the Corps didn’t build it at Table Rock. They moved the location two miles upstream to a more stable geological site, but kept the name.  Table Rock Bluff remains a popular scenic overlook, but is now fenced for safety – unlike the past as shown here.

COMING IN 2017: JAMES FORK OF THE WHITE: Transformation of an Ozark River.

Sample pages from this new book can be seen at www.beautifulozarks.com

Our earlier ‘river book,’ DAMMING THE OSAGE, can be seen at www.dammingtheosage.com