Lake Merritt is a small, private lake on Brown's Creek located about 7 miles north of Goldthwaite, Texas

Goldthwaite, Texas

Goldthwaite is a small city located in Mills County in Central Texas. The population was 1,802 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Mills County, which is named for John T. Mills, a justice of the Supreme Court for the Third, Seventh, and Eighth districts of the former Republic of Texas....

, in Mills County

Mills County, Texas

Mills County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in Central Texas. In 2000, its population was 5,151. Mills County is named for John T. Mills, a justice of the Texas Supreme Court...

. The coordinates are N 31.53268 W 98.57569. The approximate altitude above mean sea level is 1220 feet.

Brown's Creek

Although the lake is listed as Brown's Creek on the ACME Mapper 2.0, the manmade lake has been named Lake Merritt since 1915, the year work began on the project. Merritt was most likely the name of a ATSF railroad engineer.

Brown's Creek is a tributary of the Pecan Bayou and the mouth of Brown's Creek is located at the bridge over the Pecan Bayou on Ranch Road #574 west of Goldthwaite. The Pecan Bayou is a tributary of the Colorado River which separates Mills and San Saba counties of Texas, as well as many others.

History

The lake was originally built by the Santa Fe Railway Company (ATSF-Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe) as a holding reservoir for water to supply steam engines on the railway line which ran about 3.5 miles West of Lake Merritt at a railroad crossing named Bozar which still shows on US highways #84 and #183 as Bozar, Texas. After the demise of the steam engines in the railroad business, the lake was sold to a group of private investors who purchased the lake and property as a leisure and recreational project and was named Mills County Hunting and Fishing Club. Although the lake was supposed to be exclusively for the use of the shareholders of the 'Club', little enforcement was undertaken and local residents frequented the lake for fishing and swimming, especially teenagers.

Potential water source

In the 1960s there was research done by the City of Goldthwaite city council selecting Lake Merritt as the main water supply source for the City. However, after consulting an engineering firm, that proposition was abandoned and the selection of the Colorado River as the main source of municipal water was made and implemented.

Current status

The lake remains in operation with some retirement development along the shorelines. There is a Lake Keeper who resides on the West side of the lake near the bath house and meeting building. The lake has a "four-boat" limit.