MONOGRAPHS OF KINNEY COUNTY’S ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE: Fort Clark’s Water Power Plant

This bi-weekly feature examines the enduring unique architecture to be found here in Kinney County by spotlighting individual buildings and providing brief histories, complimented by period photographs. Our intent is to explore the past, inspire the present, and build the future by showcasing the remarkable associations and legacies of structures which have stood the test of time and continue to contribute so much to the exceptional heritage of Kinney County. Our next subject is “Fort Clark’s Water Power Plant,” placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Completed by the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps in 1919, this building is the third pump house to occupy the site. In 1895 a square wooden water tower was erected behind the line of company grade officers’ quarters and water lines were installed to post buildings for the first time. A pump house was built at the spring to deliver water to the new water tower. The technology of indoor plumbing had at last reached Fort Clark. A second pump house was built in 1903 which included an ice plant and boiler. With the World War ended a new pump house replaced the 1903 structure. The carved stone on the front of the building reads, “Water Power 1919.” A second water tower, this one of steel, had been installed next to the 1895 wooden tower earlier in the century. Now the post truly had a modern water system.

The 1919 pump house, post building No. 92, served the garrison for 25 years and continued in use by the Guest Ranch and then Fort Clark Springs until the creation of the Fort Clark Municipal Utility District in 1977, a political sub-division of the State of Texas, and the owner operator of the building for nearly half a century.

Texas preservation architect Killis P. Almond, Jr. gave this description of the building in his 1981 Fort Clark Historic District Preservation Plan: This structure is two stories but contains one essential main space which houses the water works equipment. The construction is concrete frame with stuccoed structural clay tile curtain walls. End walls are gabled and forms a parapet to which the gable roof adjoins. The condition of the building is good. The roof is covered with double vee groove metal sheathing. Many of the original window and door openings have been altered or filled in. A shed adjoins the northwest facade but appears to be original or constructed soon after the original.

Designation as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark would be most appropriate for the building’s fiftieth year of operations by Fort Clark MUD, in 2027.

Monographs of Kinney County’s Architectural Heritage is written by Bill Haenn, FCHC Senior Historian. Fort Clark Heritage Council is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, established in 2023, to advocate for the preservation and protection of the architecture and other historic resources in the Fort Clark National Register Historic District for the benefit  of the visiting public and future generations, providing for the advancement and strengthening of heritage tourism initiatives by growing recognition of and visitation to the Fort Clark Historic District and being committed to endorsing and promulgating the rich history of Fort Clark by expanding upon related educational and research efforts. Find this article and more online at  KinneyCountyPost.com