Andrew C. Baker - Bulldozer Revolutions: A Rural History of the Metropolitan South

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James C. Giesen, Mississippi State University

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Judith Carney, University of CaliforniaLos Angeles

S. Max Edelson, University of Virginia

Robbie Ethridge, University of Mississippi

Ari Kelman, University of CaliforniaDavis

Shepard Krech III, Brown University

Megan Kate Nelson, www.historista.com

Tim Silver, Appalachian State University

Mart Stewart, Western Washington University

Paul S. Sutter, founding editor, University of Colorado, Boulder

A RURAL HISTORY OF THE METROPOLITAN SOUTH

Andrew C. Baker

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2018 by the University of Georgia Press
Athens, Georgia 30602
www.ugapress.org
All rights reserved
Set in 10.5/13.5 Adobe Garamond Pro Regular by
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Printed digitally

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018008693
ISBN: 9780820354149 (hardcover: alk. paper)
ISBN: 9780820354156 (ebook)

, by James C. Giesen

In 1958 the residents of Houston, Texas, faced a decision: Were they willing to drink from the water that Dallas residents had flushed down their toilets? At least that was how local businessman W. B. Weisinger basically framed it. Houston had grown so dramatically in the previous two decades that the citys wells had proven insufficient to keep the hot southern metropolis with a stable water supply during any period of drought. As local agencies considered a variety of solutions to slake the growing metropoliss thirst, political and environmental battle lines developed. For Weisinger, the solution was for Houstonians to get their water not from a river system that passed first through Dallashence the toilet remarkbut from a series of reservoirs along Weisingers native San Jacinto River watershed. Like those from a long line of rural southern boosters before him, his interest was more than giving city residents access to clean water. In addition to sitting on the powerful board of the San Jacinto River Authority, Weisinger was, as Andrew Baker tells us, a Lion, a Mason, a Shriner, a Methodist, a board member of the local bank, a trustee of the Real Estate Development Fund of the Montgomery County Industrial Foundation, and owner of the local TV and radio stations. Weisinger saw a future not only in a new water supply for Houston but also in suburban reservoirs and lakes that could be used as recreation for Houstonians looking for escape from the citys heat and hustle. His connections added up to real power when it came to planning for the growing metropoliss water future. The result was Lake Conroe, not only a water supply for Houston, but a wonderland for recreationand pricey waterfront real estatejust as Weisinger had imagined.