Episode 4 - Possum Kingdom Lake

Pam and Lorilee host Jo Lynn Miller who unloads all the scoop on Possum Kingdom Lake in Graford, Texas.  She shares how it got its name, some history and what it is famous for today.  Give us a shout if you have more questions for Jo Lynn or the TLS girls. And give us a Like and a Follow if you want to hear more about Lake Life in Texas.  

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Good morning. We are here in Lake LBJ with Pam Paglasio and Jolynn Miller. Jolynn, where are you from? Possum Kingdom Lake. What do you do there?

SPEAKER_00 0:30

I have a lot of fun there. With a name like that, it has to be fun. It's a Lazarus Possum Kingdom. I spend a lot of time explaining where the name came from. So we can start with that. We can start with that. Tell us about Possum Kingdom. If you've never heard the story of how Possum Kingdom Lake got its name, it was, well, first off, Possum Kingdom Lake is in Palo Pinto County, located outside of Mineral Wells. In the late 1800s, early 1900s, Mineral Wells was the big place for people to go and enjoy the hot springs of the mineral waters.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

You have hot springs?

SPEAKER_00 1:06

They did then. Oh, okay. No. Oh, okay. No, not anymore. So the famous Baker Hotel had hot springs that people would come and take the baths and enjoy the healing properties of the mineral waters. There was a fur trader by the name of Ike Koblowski, I think was his last name. And there were fur what are those people called that go hunters. Trappers. Trappers, thank you. Hunters and trappers. Hunters and trappers, and Mr. Ike would want to be in touch with the boys from Possum Kingdom, where they had all the fur from the possums. And it just stuck. And so it was possum kingdom before it was even a lake. Do we know what you do with possum fur? You sell them in in the late 1800s. Oh, did they make coats? I guess they needed to possum to pull them.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

I don't know if they didn't take off like the mink and the fossils. We don't wear that. We need to know who a possum cover coat. If you got a print hat, you could sell them a lot of land with that.

SPEAKER_00 2:19

I know we should make blankets, but I don't know. I don't want to hurt the possums. Yeah, I know. And they got babies and everything. Yeah, and they eat ticks. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

Possums are great. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

So, anyway, in the late 1930s, they started developing the reservoir. And so they were building what is known as Moore Shepherd Dam. Our lake has a dam name. You have a damn name. It's uh the Morris Shepherd Dam named after the senator who started that process. And plans were in 1939 when they started it, that it would take multiple years to dam up the Brazos River and form a lake. In 1941, it washed away the little town of Pickwick. Oh filled. Yeah, so um then it became Possum Kingdom Lake.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

Is it still underneath there, little houses and stuff underneath the water? We can still see structures underneath on Lake Livingston. Yeah. I don't know if it's a lake. I know there's some, but I don't know if there's houses down there. I know there's falls underneath it. Marble Falls is really granite falls, and there's really falls, but it's underneath the water now. Right. Is there really marbles? No, granite.

SPEAKER_00 3:33

We really have possums. You weigh better than us.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

Shouldn't have any living stones. No living stones?

SPEAKER_00 3:41

I bet there are.

SPEAKER_02 3:42

What?

SPEAKER_01 3:42

Possums?

SPEAKER_00 3:43

Livingstones.

SPEAKER_02 3:44

Oh yeah. The Livingstones and Livingstons. Yeah, we can't have a dark doggy door on the going to the backyard from the house, or we'd end up with critters in the house. Oh yeah, we can't either. Yeah. Oh okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:54

So tell us what is the coolest thing about Possum Kingdom Lake. I have heard, I'll tell you what I heard. Okay. I heard it's the granite or the rock cliffs and the Caribbean blue water. That's what I heard.

SPEAKER_00 4:09

Okay, so the cliffs are awesome. They are actually limestone cliffs. There's a place called Hell's Gate. That's another story. So we got a minute. So the way that Hell's Gate got its name, even though the lake is heavenly, it is the place. So there's two giant limestone cliffs coming up. And that's where the fur traders went to get the possums. Uh-huh. And there were Indians then. So the story goes that the traders, trappers, can't get that straight. The trappers were running from the Indians and said, I'll go through the gates of hell before they get to me. And that's where they were killed at Hellsgate. Oh, well, that's a sad story. Yeah, but now it's not sad. Hell'sgate is super fun. It's the great place where everybody wants to go when you come to our lake. Okay, so is that like the big hangout on the lake?

SPEAKER_02 5:02

It seems like every lake has a big lake.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

All lakes have their cove. So we have Hell's Gate Cove. And um, you can find show us a picture.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

Yes. Here, hold it closer so they can see. So is it backwards? Is it back? I don't know if the round is backwards.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

Here between two scales is where we have the big fireworks show. Oh so this is a big cable that goes across there and it it rains down fireworks. Oh wow. So everyone fourth of July weekend, we do this big giant, it's probably one of the biggest shows in Texas. And this is year number 37, something like that. Oh my goodness. That's awesome. But yeah, it's it is awesome. And all these boats, they'll just be lined up like for miles, it seems. Sounds like we gotta go to Possum. You need to come to Possum Kingdom Live. Yeah, actually, only if you want to tie up and be in a big crowd. Oh, if you don't, if you just want to experience Hell's Gate Gold, come on a Tuesday. Yeah, it's much better, you know, much poor. And is the water really Caribbean blue? Oh, it is so blue. It's prettier than Caribbean blue. And I don't have that at our lakes. No, we don't have Caribbean Blue water.

SPEAKER_02 6:16

We have lovely algae green. Oh right now, chocolate milk within the ball right here.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

We actually have chocolate milk on our lake as well because it's like um oh look, she has pictures. I know she came with pictures with props. So it's kind of shaped like a dragon, so it's the brasses river. Yeah, it is. And so yeah, at the north end, it's more shallow. Uh-huh. And so when the when the river's feeding into the lake, all right here, this is gonna be more shallow water and and chocolate milk looking. Uh-huh. My theory is chocolate milk means money because you know the water's coming in, and so that's right. That's money coming in. That's right. We don't have the crowd going on. So then over here is where Hell's Gate is.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

At the far end. Way down here on the dragon tail.

SPEAKER_00 7:07

Yeah, down at the south end, and then um the dam is over here.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

At the very tip of the dragon tail. For those of you who are just listening by podcasts.

SPEAKER_00 7:18

So um the Brazos River feeds into and and forms Possum Kingdom Lake. We're the first lake of seven. Oh, you have more than one. Well, on the Brazos River system, yes. Okay. What other lakes are fed by the Brazos? Do you know? So it goes from us to what's Whitney? Oh, Whitney's in a nice little lake. Whitney's on that. I've been on Whitney. Like Grand Berry. I have assistance back here. Yeah, we we have help. We love grandberry. We have help now. I just know that there's seven, and then eventually the river goes all the way to the Gulf of America. Of America.

SPEAKER_03 7:59

That's where it goes.

SPEAKER_00 8:00

But the watershed starts way out in West Texas, actually almost to New Mexico.

SPEAKER_01 8:07

That might be farther than the Colorado River, because the Colorado River kind of ends up from up, doesn't it? Yeah. See, our health. Yeah, it ends kind of up, yeah, not too far from us.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

So it, you know, if they're getting lots of rain in West Texas, you're getting it. Then all the streams and all that stuff, and then we get the muddy chocolate. Cool.

SPEAKER_01 8:29

So now the other thing I heard is that you have Red Bull. Oh, so Red Bull Cliff Diving Team.

SPEAKER_00 8:37

Yes, this is so cool. It is so cool. Unfortunately, they're not still diving there. Oh no, no, they didn't. At Hell's Gate, right? They did. For three years in a row, they dove at Hell's Gate. Looks like that. Um now there's another.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

For those of you who want to listen only, it's a picture.

SPEAKER_00 8:54

Yeah. Now there's another uh diving team that has test dove at the lake last summer. But Red Bull, go back to that story, they only choose one spot per country per year. Oh, and you got it for three years? For the United States. That's because it's awesome. It's an awesome possum. Yes, it is awesome. So they I spoke to some of the teams, and um, the reason they chose it is because the water's 90 foot deep there. Oh and it's natural in some places like the last year they dove in Boston, I think, some city place off a bridge. That's crazy. They should go back to Cost of the Kingdom, right? You need to come back to the cliffs. That's right. And then climb up bridge diving. No, climb up Devil's Island and jump off your little platform.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

I love it. I love it. That is so cool. Well, maybe they'll come back. Oh, I hope so. Yeah, we miss them. That would be awesome. Okay, if I know that you have beautiful homes on Possum Kingdom. So kind of what's your high end, what's your low end?

SPEAKER_00 10:05

And you got kind of a so for our inventory, you can we actually still have some properties that are leasehold. You don't buy the land, you buy the house, oh yeah. Okay. So there's affordable properties and then there's uh extravagant properties. We have some listings right now that are over five and a half million. Oh, nice. Very nice, very nice. Um, it may have already sold, but there was one that was eleven and a half million.

SPEAKER_02 10:34

And what what uh promoted, I mean what supported that price? What was significant about the eleven million? Was it acreage or the amount of water footage or the home square footage and the location?

SPEAKER_00 10:47

Oh yeah. Um not big acreage, a huge house, uh beautiful pool, super high-end finishes located in a subdivision ball with a ranch and awesome. Okay, and so those are all about one acre in size, uh-huh. And sit up high so that your view is gonna be a long way across the lake. Oh, that's nice.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

Those are the really pretty views when you're up high, you can just get the whole vision.

SPEAKER_00 11:17

And that's another really neat thing about our lake is the terrain. Uh-huh. You can have flat, easy walk into the water and then wade out with the sand between your toes, and you can turn the babies loose, or you've got the ones where you're on a 200-foot cliff and you have the beautiful views. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:35

And do you own your own waterfront on Bossum Kingdom? I can. You can put if you if it if the shoreline allows, can you put in a boat dock?

SPEAKER_00 11:43

Yes, yes. Okay. Um, the way that the boat docks are managed is under the control of the Brazos River Authority. Okay. So you have Trinity and we have BRA. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:55

And then I have Lower Colorado, so the L C R A. So we got lots of river authorities. We got initials.

SPEAKER_00 12:01

Yeah. L C R A. And R we have a bra, B R A. This is supports you. Excellent support. Supports you well if you just be nice to them.

SPEAKER_01 12:12

That's what I said.

SPEAKER_00 12:16

So yeah, you can there are some locations where you cannot have a dock, uh-huh. But um, for the most part, you can it's pretty easy to get a property where you can have your own private dock. Nice. But then we have a lot of places where they have the fabulous marinas as well. Sure. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:31

There's do you have restaurants and stuff around your lake? Yeah, we do. We have you can sit and watch the water from the restaurant?

SPEAKER_00 12:37

And you can pull up by a boat. Oh, by boat, that's good. We have some of those. We love those. Those are highly popular around here. Yeah, they are. There are, let's see, Fox Hollow, Possum Hollow, Hemingway's, Bonita Ville is being rebuilt. Oh man, you got lots. At least four. How many acres?

SPEAKER_02 12:55

How many surface acres on Possum Kingdom?

SPEAKER_00 12:57

So the water surface acres, I know you were gonna ask me this. So double checked, it's even in print. 17,000. Okay, so yeah, so it's big enough for your boat.

SPEAKER_01 13:07

Right, bring it. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:08

Some big, big boats out there.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

Yeah, lots of rentals, like VRBO types, lots of Airbnb, VRBO. That's good. That means you can go and not make a commitment today and just try it out.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

Yeah, you could. Well, you could, but don't you want to own your own?

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Well, that's you try it out and then you own it.

SPEAKER_00 13:23

Then you guys come back and then they call you.

SPEAKER_01 13:26

That's right. There's so if we're gonna call anybody about living on Possum Kingdom. Oh, well, then you're gonna call me. That's who? Yeah, Jo Lynn Miller.

SPEAKER_00 13:35

And the number 940-636-3349.

SPEAKER_01 13:40

I know if I was going there, that's who I'd call. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 13:43

She knows all the cool stuff.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

I know, all the cool things, I know, all the best areas everywhere you want to be.

SPEAKER_00 13:48

I moved there in 2007.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

She's got it. She's got it all for you. So uh we're getting pretty close to the end here of our podcast today. Can we talk for a minute about the beautiful home that we're in right now? Yes, absolutely. So we are at 106 Blue Heron. It is a listing that is three million dollars on a beautiful part of the lake, and the home is stunning. We were going to show you the outside, but if you know anything about the weather in Texas, it did not turn out for us today. So you get to see the inside of the home today.

SPEAKER_00 14:26

Mother Nature said, y'all go in.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

And oh, by the way, that's Kingsland. That's Kingsland that we're in, right, Bruce? We're not in Kingsland.

SPEAKER_00 14:34

We are in Kingsland.

SPEAKER_01 14:35

Yes, yes, we are in Kingsland, Kingsland, Texas. So um, if you want to look up, this is a beautiful listing, it has tons and tons of cool things about it. Uh, 106 Blue Heron, and you can see the beautiful home that we are in today. Um, Pam and I have a couple more coming up. We do. You wanna you wanna tease the next one?

SPEAKER_02 14:56

You go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

Okay, so we we also are gonna do another one here, and it's gonna be on Canyon Lake. So, so many of y'all have probably heard about the water and stuff at Canyon Lake that has not gotten as full as um some of the others, but there's still so many wonderful things about that lake and all the things around it. So, we're gonna give you all the info on that next. And then also, um, we've got some more about Lake LBJ that we're gonna do, and then also we have Bay Marine that's coming up, and so you just gotta keep tuning in. You gotta keep tuning in and hear all the things that we're talking about because we're gonna talk about how you can not live on the water but have a boat on the water and all the good things about that. So, all the perks you can live up high and have the big view of the lake, and then just go down and say, Hey, I want you to have my boat ready at two.

SPEAKER_00 15:54

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_01 15:55

So, we're gonna talk to you about that. So, look for that one too. So, we have lots coming up.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:01

So hang tight, keep looking for us, and the syndicate. That's right, the Texas Lake Syndicate. The godfather is here. Do you want to make a quick appearance? Oh, okay. We have to call him the lake father. That's how we became the Texas Lake Syndicate. We're the broken worker. He is our broker for all of us. He's the leader of all this craziness. Yes, yeah, Texas. That's right. And um, so he kind of keeps us online, keeps us from getting too far astray. And um, so tune in. We've got lots more coming. The Texas Lake Syndicate. Okay, what it is live at the door. By the lake home. Let me talk about it. There you go. There live in the store. Buy the lake home. It's actually in print now. That's right.