Page 37 - October Sun Rays_Oct 2015

LCRA ARCHIVAL PHOTO headstones revealed themselves as the
waters receded. “There’s so much history
Workers constructing the Buchanan Dam, 1931. here,” says Hallmark “Each one of these
people, they had stories to tell. They
But what fire could not quash, water did. Buchanan, a body of water 32 miles make up our area’s history.” The tours,
Beleaguered by floods and hit hard by the long and 8 miles wide, directly on top manned by Captain Shawn Devaney,
Great Depression, the town was bought of Bluffton. have garnered significant publicity as
by the Lower Colorado River Authority. they introduce the old Bluffton to the
According to local historian and Bluffton Bluffton’s disappearance would turn modern world and offer descendants of
descendant Alfred Hallmark, many out to be only temporary when, in 2003, the lost community a chance to connect
families worked with the LCRA, but Lake Buchanan water levels dropped to with their ancestral history. Though
were inadequately compensated for their 51 percent. As Texas drought carried on, this year’s spring rains have returned
land. Others fought to stay, only to be the inundated town began to emerge from Bluffton to its watery grave, the company
forcibly evicted, their land and homes the waters. In 2011, the Burnet-based promises to resume their archeological
condemned. In 1937, the completion Vanishing Texas River Cruise began adventures should the water levels drop
of a hydropower dam created Lake taking curious passengers to visit the again.
former town. Foundations, wells, even
FRIENDSHIP

Just north of Taylor in the rolling hills
of the Texas Blacklands, a rugged trail
winds along the muddy shores of Granger
Lake. Though the hike is challenging,
it is also beautiful, meandering under
a canopy of oak trees draped in grape
vines. Beyond the tree cover in a sun-

Continued on the next page

PHOTO BY JAIME CALDER

Now located on a trail adjacent to Granger Lake, Friendship Bridge is the last remaining structure of Friendship, Texas.

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