Part of Zarzamora Creek is known as Elmendorf Lake, home of Our Lady of the Lake University.
The lake, like many in Central Texas, is a wide spot in a creek with a dam at one end. The lake is less than 200 yards across in most places. A good golfer could knock a ball across it.
The lake has been there for ages, but the weir dam was built in 1973. I haven’t been able to find information on earlier dams. I’d guess the first was a logjam.
You can find photos of young men and women canoeing on the lake, dressed in the clothes that were popular before World War I.
The forks of Apache and Zarzamora creeks are just above — to the northwest — of the campus. Most folks call the stretch below the forks Apache Creek, but most of the water comes from the Zarzamora Creek watershed. The historians always win these fights about proper names, but I follow the biologists. It’s Zarzamora Creek to me.
The lake in historical times is associated with Our Lady of the Lake, which was founded in 1895. H.E. Elmendorf sold the land to a syndicate that planned Lake View, a suburb about three miles west of downtown San Antonio. The combination of the college and the subdivision prompted the city to run a streetcar line to the area. The planned economic boom never quite amounted to an explosion, which is good for those of us who love the natural beauty of the place.
The lake is deepest near the dam, which was about 12 feet tall. In the middle of the lake is The Island, sometimes called Memorial Island. It’s connected to the world by three footbridges. Bird Island, a small island with no bridges, is just a few feet away from the north shore. It was once home to a spectacular colony of cattle egrets, which the authorities drove away. But that’s another story.
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