Possum Kingdom lake - wikipedia Possum Kingdom lake `` Possum Kingdom '' redirects here. For other uses, see Possum Kingdom ( disambiguation ). Possum Kingdom Lake Location Palo Pinto / Stephens / Young counties, Texas Coordinates 32 ° 52.00 ′ N 98 ° 26.00 ′ W ﻿ / ﻿ 32.86667 ° N 98.43333 ° W ﻿ / 32.86667 ; - 98.43333 Coordinates : 32 ° 52.00 ′ N 98 ° 26.00 ′ W ﻿ / ﻿ 32.86667 ° N 98.43333 ° W ﻿ / 32.86667 ; - 98.43333 Type reservoir Primary inflows Brazos River Primary outflows Brazos River Basin countries United States Surface area 19,800 acres ( 8,000 ha ) Max. depth 100 ft ( 30 m ) Water volume 724,700 acre ft ( 893,900 ML ) Shore length 310 miles ( 500 km ) Surface elevation 998 ft ( 304 m ) Shore length is not a well - defined measure. Possum Kingdom Lake ( popularly known as P.K. ), is a reservoir on the Brazos River located primarily in Palo Pinto County Texas. It was the first water supply reservoir constructed in the Brazos River basin. The lake has an area of approximately 17,000 acres ( 6,900 ha ) with 310 miles ( 500 km ) of shoreline. It holds 750,000 acre feet ( 930,000,000 m ) of water with 550,000 acre feet ( 680,000,000 m ) available for water supply. Morris Sheppard Dam Possum Kingdom Lake, after the devastating wildfires The Lake was originally created from the Morris Sheppard Dam which was a project of the Brazos River Authority and the Works Progress Administration. Construction was begun in 1936 and completed in 1941. The dam is 2,700 feet ( 820 m ) long and 190 feet ( 58 m ) high. The construction is unique with buttressed arched wings on either side of the nine spillway gates rather than the usual filled concrete. It has two 11,250 kilowatt generators which were used during peak demand periods that are no longer in use. Morris Sheppard was in 1938 one of Texas ' United States Senators. The dam was named for him in honor of his efforts in obtaining funding for the project. The lake is located where the Brazos River cuts through the Palo Pinto Hills. The canyon thus formed provided a favorable site for impoundment of the reservoir and accounts for the unusual depth of the lake and the resulting clarity of the water. There are several stories about the origin of the name Possum Kingdom for this part of the Brazos River valley. The most accepted version attributes the name to Ike Sablosky who settled in the region in the early twentieth century. Sablosky was a businessman, a Russian Jewish immigrant who came to America at the age of 13. He arrived in Mineral Wells, Texas from Indianapolis in 1905. Sablosky was suffering from stomach trouble and believed he was dying. Mineral Wells was then nationally famous as a health spa and Sablosky offered an employee of one of the spa hotels ten cents a day for ten days to be allowed to drink all of the mineral water he wanted. The employee accepted and Sablosky claimed that within ten days his stomach problems were cured. Sablosky then went into the fur and hide business, dealing in, among other things, possum pelts. His best suppliers of these hunted in the canyon of the Brazos and Sablosky began greeting them by saying, `` Here are the boys from the Possum Kingdom. '' Sablosky went on to be a prominent businessman in Dallas. Before his death he left millions of dollars to charity. The lake is home to the famous Hell 's Gate, a sheer break in the cliffs around the lake. The lake 's name was the title of a popular 1990s song `` Possum Kingdom '' by The Toadies. The lake is home to Possum Kingdom State Park, a 1,530 - acre ( 620 ha ) state park governed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department The Possum Kingdom Lake area suffered major wildfires in 2011 during a severe drought, first in April with 160 homes destroyed and again in August -- September with 39 homes and 9 recreational vehicles lost. The cause of the second 2011 fire was an electrical spark on the 101 Ranch The first week of August 2012 brought more wildfires to the PK vicinity ( between the dam & Graford ) which were possibly ignited by lightning strikes amid the extremely drought - ridden countryside. Texas Governor Perry authorized the Texas military forces to assist in battling them. Several Chinook helicopters were assigned to the Palo Pinto county efforts. The fires were brought under control over a period of days & nights. The lake was originally at the level of the cliffs resort which caused the massive c shaped ridges in the side walls of the shore. References Jump up ^ `` Possum Kingdom Lake ( Brazos River Basin ) ''. Texas Water. Retrieved 26 July 2013. Jump up ^ Brazos River Authority accessed online at http://www.brazos.org/pkHome.asp Jump up ^ Brazos River Authority accessed online at http://www.brazos.org/pkHome.asp Jump up ^ Possum Kingdom Reservoir from the Handbook of Texas Online Jump up ^ Brazos River Authority accessed online at http://www.brazos.org/pkHome.asp Jump up ^ `` History of Morris Sheppard Dam and Possum Kingdom Lake ''. All Roads Lead to Possum Kingdom lake. Possum Kingdom lake Chamber of Commerce. Jump up ^ David R. Holland, Golf Texas, accessed online at http://www.golftexas.com/holland91.htm Jump up ^ Rocky Holland, Possum Kingdom State Park Superintendent quoted in Texas Highways Magazine accessed online at http://texashighways.com/travel/item/657-possum-kingdom-lake-forms-heart-of-north-texas-escape Jump up ^ Tolbert of Texas : the man and his work. Page 184, Frank X. Tolbert and Evelyn Oppenheimer, TCU Press, Fort Worth, 1986. Reprinting an article dated April 20, 1958. Jump up ^ Todd Lewis, Lead Singer of the Toadies, 1995 interview appearing in Rip Magazine according to SongFacts accessed online at http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=4014 Jump up ^ Dallas News accessed online at http://www.dallasnews.com/news/state/headlines/20110831-firefighters-closer-to-containing-wildfire-near-possum-kingdom-lake.ece Jump up ^ Texas Forest Services as quoted by NASA accessed online at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=52028 Jump up ^ CBS local affiliate report accessed online at http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/10/12/cause-of-2nd-possum-kingdom-lake-fire-determined/ Jump up ^ Office of the Texas Governor accessed online at http://governor.state.tx.us/news/press-release/17529/ External links Texas portal Water portal Renewable energy portal Wikimedia Commons has media related to Possum Kingdom Lake. Possum Kingdom Online Community PK lake 2011 FIRES webpage April 2011 Fires as reported by Pondera Properties ( PonderaPK ) at Possum Kingdom Lake. This was the most comprehensive minute - by - minute report of days of fire coverage. It was provided as a community service from a local business at Possum Kingdom Lake and the report itself ( a / k / a the `` fire blog '' ) was followed by thousands of people and received media attention as a result. Page 184, Tolbert of Texas : The Man and His Work - How Possum Kingdom got its name Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Possum_Kingdom_Lake&oldid=790796756 '' Categories : Reservoirs in Texas Brazos River Bodies of water of Palo Pinto County, Texas Bodies of water of Stephens County, Texas Bodies of water of Young County, Texas Protected areas of Palo Pinto County, Texas Protected areas of Stephens County, Texas Protected areas of Young County, Texas Works Progress Administration in Texas Talk About Wikipedia Cebuano Edit links This page was last edited on 16 July 2017, at 03 : 48. About Wikipedia

Question: where is possum kingdom lake located in texas
Answer: Palo Pinto County Texas