Lake Wichita

Lake Wichita was a large man-made lake of 2,200acre acres located some three miles southwest of Wichita Falls, Texas. Its creation was primarily the work of the business entrepreneur Joseph A. Kemp, who with his brother-in-law Frank Kell, is considered one of the principal founders of Wichita Falls in the early 20th century. In 1995, the dam and spillway were rebuilt lowering conservation elevation to 976', decreasing surface acreage to 1224 acres at full pool, and leaving average depth of four-feet.Lake historyLake Wichita is partly in both Archer and Wichita counties. In the late 1890s, while serving as the county treasurer of Wichita County, Joseph Kemp tried to raise funds by means of a bond issue to build a dam and reservoir across the Wichita River. The restored falls of this river can be viewed just off U.S. Route 287 near the Texas Tourist Bureau station in Wichita Falls. At the time, the still governing Texas Constitution of 1876 forbade bond issues in regard to the establishment of irrigation systems. In 1900, Kemp created the private Lake Wichita Irrigation and Water Company. By chance, Kemp located a basin where water had collected during a heavy rain which caused Holliday Creek to overflow. Kemp hence determined that this particular site would be ideal for the lake that he envisioned. By 1901, Lake Wichita had been fully dredged at a cost of $175,000. The lake drains 143 square miles.