The dam and irrigation project was designed and financed by Dr. Frederick Stark Pearson, an American engineer, with extensive British financial backing.

[4] It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its significance as an infrastructure project and its contributions to economic development of the county.

Cyril M. Kuehne claims a total of 70 lives were taken during the dam's construction, however, he only managed to locate 27 death certificates.

Dr. Oscar B. Taylor, dentist of near-by settlement Hondo, Texas, was quoted by Kuehne as saying "sixty-six [unmarked] graves" were counted at a cemetery 3 miles away.

These markers are currently inaccessible to the public after foot traffic was disallowed following the September 11 attacks in response to terrorism concerns.

The project was delayed, however, until after the turn of the century, when Dr. Fred Stark Pearson, an internationally known engineer, persuaded British investors to finance construction of a dam at this site.

Four miles downstream, a small diversion dam conducted water into a system of irrigation canals.

Seeking new capital, Dr. Pearson and his wife left for England in 1915 on the "Lusitania" and were killed when a German submarine torpedoed the ship.

[9] The Medina Lake Preservation Society is undertaking efforts to get the dam reopened to the public, or to at least have the historical markers moved so people can see them.