There Are East Texas Communities Hidden Beneath These Lakes

EAST TEXAS -- If you've ever spent a peaceful afternoon fishing or boating on one of our beautiful East Texas lakes, you've probably given very little thought to what was there before the water.

But here's something I find kinda fascinating. Beneath some of those lakes are pieces of an entirely different East Texas.

Old farmland. Old homesteads. Places where people raised families, built businesses, and went about their daily doings. It really makes me stop and ponder what their everyday lives were like.

And in at least one case, much of an entire community disappeared beneath the water.

The East Texas Community That Disappeared Beneath Toledo Bend

Long before Toledo Bend Reservoir became a popular destination for fishing and recreation, there was a little community in Sabine County called Fairdale.

According to the Texas State Historical Association, Fairdale was a farming and lumber community about 14 miles southeast of Hemphill. It had a post office, several stores, and approximately 75 residents back in 1914.

By the 1920s, the population had dropped to about 50 people. The last store closed in 1959. And then came Toledo Bend Reservoir. By 1968, the lake covered most of the area where Fairdale once stood.

Just imagine knowing the place where you grew up would eventually become part of a reservoir.

A Settler's Home Lies Beneath Lake Tawakoni

According to the Texas State Historical Association, an early Texas settler named James H. Hooker established a homestead in the area that eventually became Rains County. Hooker arrived in the 1840s and established a settlement along the Sabine River. Today, the site of his former home is beneath Lake Tawakoni.

The lake was created when the Sabine River Authority completed Iron Bridge Dam in 1960. As the reservoir filled, it covered former farmland and transformed the landscape. The lake now serves important water-supply, flood-control, and recreational purposes, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife.

There's More History Beneath Our Lakes Than We Might Realize

Of course, these reservoirs have provided important benefits over the years, including water supplies, recreation, and flood control. But I think there's something important about remembering what existed before them.

The next time you look out across one of our East Texas lakes, remember that the landscape you're enjoying may have looked completely different once.

There were roads, farms, and places people called home once upon a time. And although the landscape has changed, the history remains...just beneath the surface.

READ MORE: What East Texas Ghost Town Lies on the Bottom of Lake Sam Rayburn?