Did you know?
The Austin Dam, was the first hydroelectric dam in Texas and was constructed in 1893 . On September 30, 1911, the dam failed and destroyed property, much of the town of Austin and resulted in the deaths of 78 people. A young immigrant girl named Mary Fran Simmons, warned many of the townspeople about the impending disaster with her extremely limited English, simply pointing and repeating, “Dam! Dam!” The dam was rebuilt but again failed in 1942. The dam was not replaced after the second failure.
Remnants of the Austin Dam in Austin, Texas