Voters approve a water plant on Victory Lake
In 1883 Tyler voters approved a bond issue for a water plant on Victory Lake, a private pond with an earthen dam on Turtle Creek.
The city’s 2000 National Register documentation says the City built the earthen dam that formed Lake Bellwood in 1894, and that Lake Bellwood was Tyler’s primary surface water source until Lake Tyler was completed in 1950.
Note
Who built the Bellwood dam is disputed: the dam’s own nomination says the private Tyler Water Company did. And the Handbook of Texas says Lake Tyler’s first water came on January 12, 1949.
Sources
- National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form: Historic and Architectural Resources of Tyler, Texas (Diane E. Williams, 2000; THC Atlas)atlas.thc.texas.gov
1883 Tylerites voted a bond issue to construct a water plant on Victory Lake, a private pond about 1,000 feet long
the City built an earthen dam in 1894 forming Lake Bellwood.
Lake Bellwood served as Tyler's primary surface water source until 1950, when Lake Tyler was completed.
Checked October 15, 2026. How the cards are filed