About the Lake of the Ozarks History

Since the 1931 completion of Bagnell Dam in a remote area of the Ozarks hills, visitors and vacationers have been enjoying the fun and excitement of the Lake of the Ozarks for more than seven decades.

The Lake of the Ozarks measures more than 90 miles in length and has several tributaries supplying it. In total, it has over 1,100 miles of shoreline spanning four Missouri counties. The massive body of water backed up behind Bagnell Dam is the largest manmade lake in the Midwestern United States. It is one one of the most popular vacation spots for vistors from all parts of the country and around the world.

Even though construction of the dam began in August of 1929 and was completed in an amazing length of time in April of 1931, the concept of a hydroelectric power plant on the Osage River was first introduced by a Kansas City developer as long ago as 1912. Ralph Street put together the funding to erect a dam across the Osage River. He began building roads, railroads and support structures necessary to begin the construction that would impound a much smaller lake than what is presently known as Lake of the Ozarks. In the mid 1920’s, Street’s funding dried up and he had to abandon the idea of the first hydroelectric power plant on the Osage River.

Upon Street’s failure to deliver the power plant, Union Electric Power and Light stepped in with an engineering firm from Boston, MA and designed and constructed Bagnell Dam in one of the most unlikely spots along the Osage River. Many thought the 30 million dollar project would be a disaster with the stock market crash of 1929, but it proved to be a boost to many families in the area as well as the hundreds that traveled across the country seeking work. By today’s standards, all construction was done by hand and the equipment used was quite primitive, but never-the-less the Bagnell Dam was completed and Lake of the Ozarks was at full reservoir in less than two years.

In the early 1930’s, resorts consisting of little more than small cabins began springing up along the shoreline catering to the fishermen and soon found that families enjoyed the lake just as much. Along with the fishing boats, the wooden hull speed boat made a debut on the lake making it possible for all types of vacations including leisure cruising to water skiing. Today you can find some of the most luxurious and exotic boats cruising the lake, ranging from the mid twenty foot runabout to the sixty foot motor yacht. Personal water craft has become one of the most popular methods of transportation on the Lake of the Ozarks.

Lake of the Ozarks became the most visited body of water in the Midwest for boaters by the 1950’s. Due to the growing popularity, the state of Missouri used Lake of the Ozarks as their testing ground for the first Missouri State Water Patrol in the late 1960's. With this being a new venture in law enforcement, the duty of the Missouri State Water Patrol was to observe and assist boaters on the Lake. No authority was given to them to perform arrests for boating or other violations. They were challenged not only with self training, but developing new techniques and to help write laws and develop safe boating practices for the state's waterways.

One of the first two patrolmen for the state was Dan Needham, who was born and raised on the Lake of the Ozarks. Dan graduated from Osage High School located near the Bagnell Dam Strip. He made a career with the Missouri State Water Patrol helping to build it to its present operation. Within a short time he was promoted to Supervisor by the governor and later appointed Director of Public Safety for the state.

Today Missouri's water patrol personnel utilize state of the art equipment and have full law enforcement powers. Thanks to these men and women and long hard hours of dedication, the Lake of the Ozarks is a much safer place to play and vacation.

  Flip though this digital album to learn interesting facts about the Bagnell Dam. Click here to view.