Lake Wabaunsee, Kansas

Lake Wabaunsee is a man-made lake near Esridge in Wabaunsee County, Kansas.

The lake site was first suggested in 1928, and a Preliminary Survey was conducted in 1929.

In September 1933, local sportsmen, businessmen, and community leaders chartered the Lake Wabaunsee Corporation to convince the Fish and Game Commission to build a lake in their county. The corporation sold lots to finance the purchase of the site and the construction of the lake along the spring-fed waters of Mill Creek.

After years of promotion, the project became a reality in 1933 when the state announced that the Kansas Emergency Relief Committee would establish a transient camp in Wabaunsee County to construct a lake. In December 1933, building contractor George Rinner began construction of the work camp, including barracks buildings, a dining hall, and a recreation hall.

In January 1934, workers arrived to clear the valley and quarry stone from the lake bed.. Transient workers constructed a blacksmith shop, a shoe shop, a barber shop, and the caretaker’s house at the east end of the dam.

In March 1935, the first heavy machinery began arriving by rail in Eskridge and was then transported to the lake site. Workers began to dynamite the rock ledges along the west shore near the proposed spillway. The primary job of the Kansas Emergency Relief Committee project was site preparation. Hundreds of trees were felled in the valley, cut into firewood, and used to heat the barracks and other buildings.

However, the Kansas Emergency Relief Committee’s days were numbered. The agency was dissolved as more aggressively funded New Deal programs replaced the state-funded ones. By August 1935, work at the Lake Wabaunsee transient camp had ceased operations, with only 15% of the project completed.

On January 1, 1936, the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA), as part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal program during the Great Depression, assumed control of the Lake Wabaunsee project. Forty additional camp buildings from recently closed Kansas Emergency Relief Committee projects in Howard and Sedan were moved to Lake Wabaunsee, bringing the total number of buildings to 60.

The 160 former Kansas Emergency Relief Committee workers who were stranded at Lake Wabaunsee when the transient camp closed were employed by the WPA. Additionally, an equal number of new workers were brought to the camp. Work on the dam continued around the clock, with banks of lights fed by generators installed. In July 1936, project engineers determined the dam construction to be faulty, and the dam was removed to ground level and rebuilt. However, in November, engineers determined the dam was still insufficient, and it was redesigned to be five feet higher. Despite these setbacks, on December 31, 1936, the dam was complete.

Work continued at the lake, including the construction of roads and bridges.

Construction was completed in August 1937, and the lake began filling. Soon after, the city of Eskridge purchased the lake. On October 1, State Game Warden L.C. Webb supervised the release of 32,000 fish in the new lake. In November, the City of Eskridge held a lottery to select lots on the lake. Investors in the Lake Wabaunsee Corporation selected 125 lots.

While the lake was mostly full in 1938, the roads and bridges around it were still under construction, making it sometimes difficult for property owners to access their lots. Throughout the year and the first half of 1939, the WPA workforce was steadily reduced in size as road work was completed.

On August 24, 1939, the WPA camp closed, and all workers vacated the facility as the county prepared for the lake’s grand opening. On August 26, the grand opening celebration was attended by hundreds, and the lake officially opened for picnicking, boating, and fishing.

Within months of the lake’s opening, problems arose with the integrity of the dam. There was a leak at the control gate, and the valve could not be closed. A diver from Kansas City, Missouri, unsuccessfully attempted to plug the outlet valve. With no other solution available, the City of Eskridge plugged the entire control tower with concrete, abating the leak but rendering the control valve permanently inoperable.

The roads, bridges, bath house, and boat dock were completed in 1940. In June 1940, the National Youth Administration announced that a camp for training in metal fabrication and seaplane construction would be established at the lake. The opening of the camp signaled the increasing role of the Department of Defense in government relief programs as war loomed in Europe.

On June 12, 1941, heavy rains filled the lake, and water began exiting over the spillway for the first time.

Early in 1942, the camp went into “war production training,” with the welding and machine shops working two shifts. In December 1942, the camp was suddenly closed, and the equipment was moved to a facility in Emporia, Kansas.

In April 1943, the 9th Armored Division at Camp Funston leased the lake camp from the City of Eskridge as a recreation center for troops heading overseas. During the summer of 1943, about 8,000 soldiers rotated through the lake camp in groups of 500 for swimming training and recreation. That camp closed in September.

In January 1944, the camp was empty once again, and Wabaunsee County Extension Agent Howard Myers had a plan to use the abandoned camp and help area farmers who were strapped for labor. Myers and area farmers appeared before the Eskridge City Council, pleading to rent the lake camp for a Prisoner of War work camp. By 1944, most able-bodied men were in the service, and area farmers were desperate for labor. The City Council agreed to host the POW camp.

On July 1, 1944, Camp Number 5 opened at Lake Wabaunsee, housing approximately 150 German enlisted men. Area farmers formed the Wabaunsee County Growers Association and collected forty cents per man-hour from farmers for prisoner labor. The administration kept five cents, including two cents for the City of Eskridge.

Prisoners were transported to and from their workplaces on the backs of trucks and performed jobs without guards. There was never an escape attempt from Camp Number 5, although escape attempts were quite common in most POW camps. Most prisoners worked on Wabaunsee County farms and ranches, but prisoners also worked on construction jobs, building houses, and some worked for the County Road and Bridge Department. Prisoners were fed lunch each day by the “employer,” who used their labor.

On December 1, 1945, the POW camp closed permanently, all prisoners were returned to the main camp at Concordia, and the facility was returned to the City of Eskridge, closing the most eventful dozen years in Lake Wabaunsee’s history.

Today, spring-fed Lake Wabaunsee is a wonderful recreational lake and community along the Native Stone Scenic Byway. Along this path, visitors see everything from hillsides to buildings filled with natural limestone formations and stonework used in the architecture and craftwork of masons who built the small towns and communities with native stone.

Lake Wabaunsee, operated by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism, offers camping, fishing, and boating. Bluegill, Channel Catfish, Crappie, Flathead Catfish, Green Sunfish, Largemouth Bass, Saugeye, Smallmouth Bass, and Walleye are available for anglers. Permits from the City of Eskridge are required for camping, fishing, and boating. The lake is just 45 minutes from Topeka, Manhattan, Emporia, and Council Grove.

 

©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated June 2025.

Also See:

Kansas Waterways

Scenic Byways

Wabaunsee County, Kansas

Wabaunsee County Photo Gallery

Sources:

Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks
Lake Wabaunsee
Travel Kansas
Wabaunsee County Historical Society
Wikipedia