The history of the North Mississippi vacation spot spanning at least two generations was highlighted Saturday.
ENID, Miss. (WTVA) – The history of a North Mississippi vacation spot that spans at least two generations was highlighted Saturday.
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks hosted former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers resource manager Mike Robinson to present a history program at Lake Enid.
Robinson told us a lot about the lake, from the great flood of 1927 that prompted Greenville lawmakers to propose a bill to build a dam in the state, to its current condition.
Mike Robinson, former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers resource manager. Photo location: Enid, Mississippi. Photo date: June 8, 2024.
He said before the program that he hopes people will take home a sense of gratitude for those who worked hard to build the lake and those who gave up their land for it.
One of the photos shared by Mike Robinson of workers at Lake Enid, who said the shed boards are still visible. Date taken: Unknown. Photo courtesy of Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.
“At the time the dams were built, there were farmers living up and down each lake,” he says, “and of course they didn’t want to give up their land.”
Robinson recounted how one of his workers, who drives a piece of construction equipment known as a “Yuke,” told him about the dangers of working on the lake.
“They were finishing up on the north slope, hauling dirt and he was unloading it and going back up the slope,” Robinson said.
Lake Enid. Photo taken at: Enid, Mississippi. Photo taken on: June 8, 2024.
He said it must have been behind the old field office.
“And then just as he got over the top of the slope, his brakes failed,” he said, “and, of course, this thing went backwards down the slope into the culvert and through the wall.”
He said the ukulele went through the concrete and fell into the floodway.
“What happened to him? He jumped off the top and we never saw him again. He knew he was good and he went off and got another job,” Robinson said.
He said one person died during the construction of Lake Enid.
The lake finally became operational in 1952.
The lakeside Visitor Education Center currently displays the world record white crappie caught by Fred Bright from Lake Enid in July 1957. It weighed 5 pounds, 3 ounces.
The world record white crappie caught by Fred Bright in Lake Enid in 1957. Location: Enid, Mississippi. Date: June 8, 2024.
“Every year someone catches this fish and says it’s a new world record, and then they weigh it and it’s 3 pounds,” Robinson said.
You can see the fish for yourself at the North Mississippi Fish Hatchery & Visitor Center.
The hatchery was completed in 2006 and produces cold and warm water species such as northern largemouth bass, southern walleye, paddlefish, alligator gar, white crappie, black crappie, magnolia crappie, bluegill and red-eared sunfish.
For more information on the hatchery, visit this link on the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks website.
If you would like to learn more about the history of Lake Enid, check out this link on the Army Corps of Engineers website.
