Foundations, etc. under Lake Hefner?

[Joe Kimball]

I forget if I read here, or just heard by the wayside, how there exist foundations under Lake Hefner, dating back to when the area was dammed and flooded in the early 1940s? Apparently parts of one of two are visible when the water recedes, allowing artifacts to be retrieved (possibly all fished away by now)? Anyone have an idea of what I'm talking about?

[OKCisOK4me]

The only thing I know of, is when the water was down real low within the last couple of years, someone did a video of a rather large pipe from the western shore going towards the center of the lake.

[MDot]

The only thing I know of, is when the water was down real low within the last couple of years, someone did a video of a rather large pipe from the western shore going towards the center of the lake.

I don't know why but that video sort of gave me chills while watching it.

[Bill Robertson]

Could be foundations but I wouldn't think so. Some where I recall seeing old photos of the lake being built and it looked like everything in the area was dug out or at least scraped off clean. Maybe these are in the Ranger Station, I don't remember. Also, there wouldn't have been much out there. The lake Hefner area was way out in the country in the early 40s when it was built.

[adaniel]

I don't know why but that video sort of gave me chills while watching it.

Would this be it?



I can see why it gave you chills. Some creepy music.

[OklahomaNick]

I have two guesses. The pipe carries..

A) WATER
or..
B) Cash that travels to Nichols Hills and Chesapeake

[metro]

Foundations as in house foundations? That wouldn't make any sense. The lake is man made. People wouldn't have had their house 15-50 or so feet below the normal elevation. Any houses (used to be farmland back then) would have been cleared, it would f had to to dig out a lake......


Regarding the pipe, it's the pipe that carries water from Canton Lake via Lake Overholser/North Canadian River if Im not mistaken.

From City of OKC:

Raw Water Sources
Oklahoma City obtains its water from two water sources: North Canadian Water from Canton Lake and the North Canadian River system and Southeast Oklahoma System from the McGee Creek Reservoir and Lake Atoka. The North Canadian Water system supplies Lake Overholser, which is located next to the North Canadian River, while water from the North Canadian River is transferred to Lake Hefner through the 5-mile long Lake Hefner Canal. The water in Lake Overholser is delivered to the Overholser WTP, located in downtown Oklahoma City, through a 7.3 mile long pipeline, whilst the water from Lake Hefner is treated at the Hefner WTP located next to the lake.
The Southeastern Oklahoma System raw water is conveyed through two successive pipelines from McGee Creek Reservoir to Lake Atoka and then from Lake Atoka to Lake Draper, where it is terminally stored before delivery to Draper WTP located next to the Lake Draper. The Raw water supply is shown in figure 1.

[Bill Robertson]

That pipe is still a mystery. As your source says Hefner gets its water from the canal, not a pipe.

[MDot]

Would this be it?



I can see why it gave you chills. Some creepy music.

Yeah, that's the video.

[BB37]

I've never heard of any foundations under Hefner; it's possible, but as others have pointed out, that area was all farmland before the lake was built.

My grandfather's hometown was inundated by Lake Texoma when it filled in in the 1940s; when Texoma is low, as it was last summer, you can see quite a few foundations, and even a concrete tornado shelter.

[metro]

That pipe is still a mystery. As your source says Hefner gets its water from the canal, not a pipe.

It eventually turns into a pipe. You can see the canal through Wiley post airport land, then it gets buried underground as a pipe before you get to Wilshire.

[Tritone]

True, the canal does go underground there and continues in a somewhat northeasterly direction under northwest highway. It passes just north (still unbderground, mind you) of that triangular building, the one whose name escapes me, but which lies northwest of the old Charcoal Oven. It then reemerges to daylight on the east side of Mac Arthur, on the curve, north of the highway, next to the aptly named "Canal Road."

I can remember stories when I was a lad of foolishly brave folks trying to swim the distance underground. If I recall correctly it could be done with SCUBA gear but the roughly one-half mile tunnel was too much for unaided swimmers. Perhaps other gray heads can recall details.

[Jim Kyle]

I remember back in the 80s or 90s a young boy tried to do that, and drowned. I believe there's a grating in the underground portion in which he became entangled...

[RadicalModerate]

All o' this ain't NOTHIN' (alt. spelling "nuttin'") compared to that Mystery (solved) Disappearence Car that They dragged out of the "lagoon" on the east side of the lake a couple/three years ago . . . I think the lady was on her way to report possible future violations of the pristine Eastern Shoreline of the reservoir. Like, to Sierra Club members . . . I'm not sure if it involved proposed "Parkways" or "sub-par, fly-by-night Restaurants" but it was somethin' . . .

(Too bad they wasted The Music on a friggin' pipe exposé . . .)

Edited to Add: I apologize for (sorta) dissin' The Mystery. That was a very entertaining video regarding an interesting mystery. Props to Alonzo. Obviously that was the Flouride Delivery System before They decided that Contrails were a more effective way of delivering the goods. (Old Oilfield Thinking from the 50's). Unfortunately, that pipe bears an uncanny resemblance to the sub-structure of the I-35 Bridge that collapsed into the Missisippi River not that long ago.

[grantgeneral78]

I remember seeing something on the news it looked like a couple of foundations when the water went down as well. I dont recall what channel I saw it on though.

[dhawkins]

Years ago when the lake was way down there was an old dump sight on the southeast shore of what remained of the lake. I dug out quite a few old glass bottles and small medicine type bottles. Didn't see any home site associated with it though.

[Joe Kimball]

Great stuff, everyone. I'll reply in detail tomorrow.

[rondvu]

My Great Grandfather homesteaded the area that is now Hefner Rd and Hefner Parkway. I have seen a pic of my Grandmother standing on the NE section of the rock dam wall. It was nothing but dirt, no visible signs of homes, trees, etc..... To me it look like earth movers had been in action. FYI Lake Hefner was at one time to be called Bluff Creek Reservoir.

[Tritone]

Indeed. I've seen maps with that label. All this good info on these nostalgia threads fascinates me.

[OKCisOK4me]

The mystery pipe is an air ventilation tube that goes down to the alien subterranean tunnels that criss-cross all over our country...lol

[Martin]

actually, the pipes are used exclusively by au3#d$-¿fØkj§k d;'æ -µ

++CARRIER LOST++

[Joe Kimball]

Well, I remember reading in the Oklahoman archives that plenty enough houses and/or structures were there to cause enough concern to inspire an article of the various opinions of the landowners, ranging from "meh" to utter sadness at losing the apparently fertile land. I also saw subsequent to starting this thread that the land was indeed mostly razed of structure and wooded area. Of course, foundations are a possible exception to this.

I learned here that that mysterious conduit that looks suspiciously like a sewer (VERY cleverly documented in that video, by the way) is almost certainly the old intake pipe for an out-of-service pump house that, in essence, watered the golf course(s, as perhaps it was taken out of service before the new one was built in the early sixties?).

And, that's incredibly sad with the drowning. I looked at that further and found that it was a 12-year-old boy, a resident of one of the adjacent apartments, who was crawfish hunting with his brother. He apparently fell in and was sucked into the tunnel, which actually is an inverted siphon* and would explain the vacuum effect. It was reckoned he perished almost instantly, but that didn't stop the efforts of heroic rescue personnel who went down there, a few of whom were divers.

*Are the plans for this on file in the public record?

[RadicalModerate]

actually, the pipes are used exclusively by au3#d$-¿fØkj§k d;'æ -µ

++CARRIER LOST++

(lol!!!!!)

[Larry OKC]

I could see foundations as being a possibility...entire towns have been submerged for lake creation...there was an article this summer (either in Oklahoma or Texas) that revealed tombstone markers from a cematery...the inscription was around 100 years old IIRC...couldn't help but be reminded of Poltergeist where the developer of the subdivision just moved the markers and not the graves...which reminds me of the scene were coffins and skeletons are popping up in the rainstorm from the swimming pool that was being installed...they must have buried folks pretty deep back then...LOL

[Bigjohn]

Yeah, that's the video.

That pipe is a water main