History of El Dorado Lake

The history of Butler County and the City of El Dorado revolves largely around ranching, railroads and oil production.  Much of this history can be found at the Butler County History Center and Kansas Oil Museum located in nearby El Dorado, Kansas.  For information, go to:   
http://www.kansasoilmuseum.org/

 El Dorado Lake is located on the Walnut River, a tributary of the Arkansas River.  Construction on the lake was started in 1973 and completed in 1981.  During its construction, the present lake incorporated two smaller lakes that were already in existence, Bluestem Lake and (Old) El Dorado Lake.  (Old) El Dorado Lake was completely inundated by the new, larger lake, but the dam of Bluestem Lake was breached and the remnants of that dam can still be seen on the Shady Creek arm of the lake.