Founded in 1887 by General Adam R. Johnson, Marble Falls is located in the heart of the Texas Hill Country on the Colorado River. Before the dam was built to form Lake Marble Falls, water cascaded over 20-foot ledges which resembled marble, providing a name for the new city. The falls are now underwater and only visible on those rare occasions when the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) lowers the lake for repairs to the dam and boat docks.
The first city officials were elected in 1907 when a mayor-alderman form of government was instituted. In 1917, Ophelia ´Birdie¡ Crosby Harwood was elected mayor - thus becoming the first woman mayor in the United States to be elected by an all male electorate.
However, it was the 866-foot stone monolith called Granite Mountain looming on the townÿs western edge that secured Marble Fallsÿ place in Texas history. It was here that the famed ´Texas Pink¡ granite was quarried to construct the Texas State Capitol Building in Austin.
The stone was a donation from progressive area citizens in exchange for a rail connection with Austin. The Austin and Northwestern Railroad built an extension to Marble Falls from Granite Mountain in 1889, and a post office was also established that year. Granite Mountain is still actively quarried, and a variety of granite products are shipped all over the world.
Today, it is the natural setting of lakes and hills that makes the Marble Falls/Lake LBJ area one of the most attractive and popular tourist and retirement destinations in all of Texas.
Lake Marble Falls is a reservoir on the Colorado River in the Texas Hill Country in the United State. The reservoir was formed in 1951 by the construction of Starcke Dam by the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA). Originally named Marble Falls Dam, the dam was renamed in 1962 for Max Starcke, the second general director of the LCRA.
Located near the town of Marble Falls, the lake is used as a venue for aquatic recreation and for the purpose of generating hydroelectric power. It is the newest of the Texas Highland Lakes.
The other reservoirs on the Colorado River are Lake Buchanan, Inks Lake, Lake LBJ, Lake Austin and Lady Bird Lake.
