- City:
- Stover, MO
- Site Type:
- Lakes and Ponds, Parks and Recreation, Infrastructure and Utilities, Dams
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)
- Started:
- 1937
- Completed:
- 1937
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Marked:
- Yes
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
This water retention dam and lake was constructed by the WPA in 1937. It was was justified as being for potential needs in a drought, but which primarily served as a place for water recreation for African American families in the Kansas City area. At the time, there was very limited opportunity for outdoor recreation for blacks in Kansas City, essentially being a small section of Swope Park nicknamed “watermelon hill.” The surrounding land was privately owned by some of the wealthier black families in the Kansas City area.
Source notes
Kremer, Gary and Evan Orr, "Lake Placid", in: Ozarks in Missouri History: Discoveries in an American Region, ed. Lynn Morrow, University of Missouri Press, 2013, pp. 223-238. Maymie Hughes, oral history, October 2016.Site originally submitted by Charles Swaney on January 9, 2017.
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