Steinhagen Reservoir

B A Steinhagen Reservoir is located near the town of Jasper, Texas in the east Texas Piney Woods at 30.85 North Latitude and 94.19 West Longitude. The borders of Tyler County and Jasper County are defined by the bed of the Neches River, and therefore bisect the lake on a North/South line. The lake was created as part of a project that focused on creating lakes for recreation, power generation, and water conservation on the Neches River and the Angelina River. For many years, locals have referred to both the lake and dam as "Dam B".

The lake is bisected by U.S. Highway 190 very near its center-most point. Martin Dies, Jr. State Park is located on this lake.

Town Bluff Dam and B.A. Steinhagen Lake, originally identified as "Dam B", was authorized by the River and Harbor Act of 1945 (Public Law 14, 79th Congress, 1st Session). Construction was started in March, 1947; deliberate impoundment began April, 1951; with completion of the dam in June, 1953. Cost was $8,000,000 with $2,000,000 contributed by the Lower Neches Valley Authority. The Robert D. Willis Hydropower Project construction started in March, 1987 and the hydropower facilities became available for commercial operation on 17 November 1989. The hydropower project is a first-of-its-kind partnership between private enterprise and the U. S. Government in that the Sam Rayburn Municipal Power Agency (SRMPA) paid for the entire project in advance, rather than reimbursing the Federal Government over the life of the project.

The project is one of four reservoirs authorized in the Angelina-Neches Rivers basin. Sam Rayburn Reservoir, formerly known as McGee Bend Reservoir, was completed in 1965. The other two projects, "Dam A" and "Rockland" are classified as deferred. In July, 1967, "Dam B" was renamed Town Bluff Dam and B. A. Steinhagen Lake. Town Bluff Dam is derived from being in the close proximity to the community in Tyler County of that name. B. A. Steinhagen was a prominent citizen of Beaumont, Texas who was active in initial planning, authorization, and other water conservation activities. The Robert D. Willis Hydropower Project is named in memory of Willis who served as executive director of SRMPA from May 1980 to May 1988.

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