HISTORY
The Lake Murray Yacht Club was founded on May 27, 1995 primarily as a social group to provide camaraderie and fellowship for boat owners at Lake Murray. As the Yacht Club grew in membership, there was the desire to do something meaningful for the lake area and those who enjoy boating. Its first real project was to place buoys on the lake, which involved going to the state to obtain permission, since Lake Murray is an Oklahoma State Park. Permission was granted on the condition that the Yacht Club maintain the buoys. Initially, about 40 buoys were placed and now there are about 55.
The corporation structure includes a board of directors and officers who coordinate the business of the corporation, inform Yacht Club members through regular meetings and newsletters and respond to member concerns as they pertain to the stated mission of the Yacht Club.
Historical Development of Lake Murray
The inception of State Parks in Oklahoma began on the 10th of April 1933, when the State Legislature appropriated $90,000 for purchase of approximately 10,000 acres of land south of Ardmore, in Carter and Love counties.
On March 31, 1933 the United States Congress enacted legislation creating the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The CCC was one of the first “New Deal” programs initiated to relieve the economic and human distress caused by the depression of the 1930’s. The stated goal of the CCC was to “furnish employment and training for unemployed youth.” Young 18 to 25 year old single, jobless men enrolled for 6 month stays in CCC camps, and were paid $30 per month for a forty hour work week, $22-$25 of which was sent back to support their families. Camps provided the workers with quarters, meals, uniforms, recreation and medical care as well as spiritual nourishment. Works Progress Administration (WPA) bands even visited the CCC camps on occasion to provide entertainment after 1935. The concept was that proper diet, outdoor life, and useful work would help the displaced city men to regain faith in themselves and their country. The CCC would provide the necessary labor for various natural resource conservation projects in soil erosion, flood control and reforestation on rural government lands.
The Nation Park Service (NPS) developed Recreation Demonstration Areas (RDA) throughout the country in the 1930’s near 46 urban centers, to inspire Americans to revisit the natural outdoor setting. In 1934 the National Park Service purchased an additional 2,700 acres of “sub-marginal” farm land adjacent to the original 10,000 acres purchased by the State, for a Lake Murray Recreation Demonstration Area. . There were two CCC camps constructed in support of the Lake Murray project. Camp #1813 was located on the west side of the planned lake, and Camp #834 was on the east side of the future State Park.
The park was designed by E.J. Johnson, and he served as superintendent from 1935 – 1942. The Lake would be created with a rock and earthen dam designed to collect natural springs and the runoff from the Anadarche and Fourche Maline Creeks. Park facilities, structures and landscaping were from the Herbert Maier “rustic” style, made famous in the 1920’s Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Parks projects. His buildings were made of native stone and large timbers and designed to blend into the landscape. The National Register of Historic Places recognized Lake Murray State Park’s value for architectural and cultural history in 2001.
Lake Murray State Park was named after one of Oklahoma’s most colorful governors, William H. “Alfalfa Bill” Murray, who signed the necessary State appropriations. It is the first and largest park in the State with 12,496 acres, and was open to the public in 1938. The 5,728 acre lake is designated exclusively for recreation. Thanks to the men of the CCC, WPA, and NPS and the incorporation of a Recreation Demonstration Area, Lake Murray State Park is a beautiful historic recreation area that has been enjoyed by millions of Americans.
LAKE MURRAY BEFORE WATER
LAKE MURRAY DAM BEFORE WATER
TUCKER TOWER: A BRIEF HISTORY
Construction of the castle-looking, now iconic, Tucker Tower began along with the other Lake Murray Park structures in 1933. A building inspired by photographs of a European castle taken during World War I by veteran Sen. Fred Tucker, a local legislator, for whom the tower is named. The structure sits on a steeply dipping outcrop named the Devil's Kitchen Conglomerate, of the Criner Hills Uplift, near the southern edge of the Ardmore geological basin. Geologists consider this formation significant in supporting theories about the timeline of mountain building in the area. Everyone else just thinks the rock crest, 60 feet above the water, a perfect place for a tower. There is a cave under the water in the rock formation that is said to have sheltered earlier cultures and even served as an outlaw hideout in “wild west” times. The lake water is about 45 feet deep adjacent to the northern point of the rock face.
Anecdotally, the tower was originally planned as the summer retreat for then Governor Murray, in return for his efforts to back the park project. Work was ceased in 1935, reportedly because federal officials could not justify delays and cost escalations. So without windows, doors, floors, or ceilings, the tower was left open to the public and the elements. It remained unfinished until the State Park Service stepped in and completed the construction. The tower reaches 65 feet above the base patio, allowing a panoramic view for miles. There is one roofed, and two open patios at different levels for viewing. Tucker Tower opened in 1954 as a geological museum, featuring the granular hexahedrite meteorite found on the property in the 1930s. The meteorite remains on display in the tower, although the focus of the facility was changed to a nature center in 1981.
Time and the elements have taken their toll on Tucker Tower. The old iron window frames rusted and will not hold new glass, and together with roof leaks have destroyed some displays in the museum. Some interior wood structures are not deemed safe for public traffic. The Parks Division of the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation has repairs underway with plans to reopen this spring. A new nature center structure at the base of the tower is nearing completion, and will be a marked enhancement to the attraction. With the basic tower structure in tact, a $100,000 investment will produce a million dollar nature center for Oklahoma.