This Medallion is sitting about 5 feet up the wall between the Attorneys Building and the Edward Jones Building.
The marker is so tarnished and
hard to read so
here is a graphic representation
of the medallion.
The locally infamous Mother's Day Flood of 1957 saw Sulphur Creek on a rampage, sending a tide of five feet or more water surging through the downtown business district. Only five lives were lost, but homes, businesses, cars, and other property, including county records of the Courthouse were destroyed or damaged. Fort Hood soldiers, the Red Cross and neighboring communities combined to help restore order, clean up, and get back to normal living. A series of levees and reservoirs were constructed to reduce the possibility of future floods.
Info Source: Lampasas Economic Development Corporation Website LINK
From the John Patton U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 03-193 Title: Major and Catastrophic storms and Floods in Texas.
1957 - May 12, 1957 - Rainfall in the Sulphur Creek headwaters of 2.0 in. to a 12.0-in. center 5 mi west-southwest of Lampasas between 6:00 and 10:00 PM May 12, 1957, put nearly all of Lampasas underwater. A downtown restaurant today on Hwy 281 still notes the crest with a high-water mark on the front door about 5 ft from the floor.
Flooding was catastrophic as torrential flow slammed through stores, public buildings, and homes in the evening hours with terrific force. Autos were washed about like wood chips, and homes were destroyed. Extremely severe damage to homes, commercial and public property covered 68 city blocks. Four-hundred thirty families had losses to residences, of which 50 were totally destroyed. One-hundred sixty-eight businesses suffered major damage.
Five persons drowned - four in Lampasas, and one in Gunderland Park, a privately owned recreational park 2 mi below Lampasas.
Ten flood-retention dams in the headwaters of Sulphur Creek, on Pillar Bluff, Espey, Pitt, Hughs, Donaldson, and Burleson Creeks west of town, constructed by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has prevented a repeat of the above disaster. Many flood prone communities across Texas have had flooding greatly diminished by NRCS retention dams, I.e., San Marcos and Boerne.
And yet some more information is found at the
Lampasas.Org Website
In 1957, after seven years of drought, the clouds opened and up to 12 inches of rain fell on the area west of town. This was worse than the 1873 and the 1936 floods. Five persons drowned, and more than 100 homes and businesses were destroyed or damaged. Water was seven feet deep in the Lampasas County Courthouse. To help prevent similar occurrences, numerous flood prevention dams have been built.
Here are
"Then and Now"
photos of the flood
