A feasibility study by the Army Corps of Engineers attracted favorable attention in the Oklahoma legislature, leading to creation of the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA), a state agency, in 1935.

[3][4][5][6] Another mile east, through the town of Disney, lie two small sister dams known as "the spillways" with an additional 21 gates, surrounded by public parks and launching ramp.

510,000 cubic yards (390,000 m3) of concrete were used in the construction of Pensacola Dam, poured 24 hours a day in just 20 months with Depression-era labor.

Grand Lake has a surface area of 41,779[7] acres (169.07 km2) of water, a storage volume of 1,515,416 acre-feet,[7] and 1,366[8] miles (2,198 km) of shoreline.

[2] In recent years, low fall elevations of 741 were kept by the GRDA to allow millet seeding for migratory waterfowl, resulting in conflict between property owners, environmentalists, and federal agencies.

There are a number of shows in the area, as well as resorts, and a sixty-seven-foot long, twin deck paddle wheel riverboat called the Cherokee Queen,[12] which has been in operation since the 1940s.