Joe Pool Lake

BeginningsEdit

The project to build Joe Pool Lake started of a promise made in 1961 by the late U.S. Rep. Joe Pool and was carried out by a citizens committee called the Lakeview Planning Council. The oft-stalled lake project – approved by Congress in 1965 and known as Lakeview Lake until 1982 – had been the subject of name squabbles and delays caused by 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.

Parks and recreationEdit

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.

Britton ParkEdit

$5 per day vehicle

6 a.m. - 10 p.m. March - October 28 Closed - October 29 through February 25 Open - weekends in October

Boat ramp Parking lot Restroom

Loyd ParkEdit

3401 Ragland Road Grand Prairie, Texas 75052 Phone: +1 817 467 2104 Fax: +1 817 467 4931

$10 per vehicle up to six people - $15 per vehicle on holidays

$10 boat launch fee

$20–28 Campsites per night-not including vehicle fees (campsites limited to 2 vehicles, 8 people)

$100/night One bedroom cabin $125/night Two bedroom cabin

24/7/365

791 acres (3.20 km²) park offers campers of all types a tranquil, natural tree-filled setting. Boat Ramp Hiking Trails Restrooms Overnight Campgrounds Picnic Areas Cabins

Lynn Creek ParkEdit

Lake Ridge Parkway just north of Lynn Creek Marina on Joe Pool Lake.

$10 per vehicle daily fee Call +1 817 467 2104 for reservations

Residents of Grand Prairie get in free (a valid Texas Driver's License with a Grand Prairie address is required).

6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily March through October

784 acres (3.17 km²) restrooms, showers, two boat ramps with eight lanes, a swimming beach, and a concession stand. almost 100 picnic sites, group picnic pavilions, sand volleyball courts and an amphitheater.

Cedar Hill State ParkEdit

1570 F.M. 1382 Cedar Hill, Texas 75104 +1 972 291 3900

Adult: $7.00 per person Children 12 & Under: Free Campsites: Regular (Developed): $25.00 per night Primitive: $10.00 per night

6am-10pm (everyday)

784 acres (3.17 km²)

Features 355 mostly wooded campsites with a shade shelter over some of the picnic tables. Mountain Biking, Bird Watching, Picknicking, Joe Pool Marina, Fishing.

Lynn Creek MarinaEdit

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. The marina does a brisk business in boat rentals and has an indoor-outdoor fishing area where non-boaters can fish for $5 for 12 hours ($3 for children and seniors). Next door to the marina, the popular Oasis restaurant features open air dining and live weekend entertainment over the lake's waters.

Fishing RegulationsEdit

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 historyEdit

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.

Fishing tipsEdit

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 qualityEdit

FacilitiesEdit

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 reportsEdit

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

Joe Pool Lake Archaeological ProjectEdit

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.