Lake Worth celebrates 100 years

FORT WORTH, TX -- Fort Worth's Lake Worth is celebrating its 100th birthday this month.

With an eye toward creating a source of water, the city from 1911 to 1913 spent $1.5 million to acquire land and construct a dam along the West Fork of the Trinity River. When an unexpected deluge hit North Texas in August 1914, the new lake was filled in a matter of days.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that in the last 100 years, Lake Worth has transformed from a popular beach resort to a recreational lake that is home to hundreds of homeowners, the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge and acres of undeveloped land.

Today, there are ongoing debates about how much of lake should be developed.