Vilbig Dredge
Painting of the Lake Vilbig dredge by John McGee
Picture of the Dredge by Helen Foster of 1908 Emerald Dr.
At one time there were 2 floating houses on Lake Vilbig and there was plans for more, but after this one sunk, no more were built
Cypress Cove Park History
"Cypress Cove Park" named by Peggy Tackett.
Boat Ramp Renovation and Expansion: September 19, 1998 Kevin Stiegler, Marty Tackett, Tom Root, Greg Hoffman, Jane & Bill Heater, & Beverly Root worked on the project
Park Expansion Phase I: The ILA Applied for the City of Irving neighborhood grant April 2001. From May 20, 2001 through September 2001 ILA members created a picnic area, cleared brush, improved a drainage creek from Diamond Lane storm drain, removed large underground concrete pipes, and created a foot bridge using one of the concrete pipes. The ILA purchased 5 green metal picnic tables in October 2001. Peggy Tackett served as Project Manager for neighborhood grant. Many ILA members volunteered their time and worked on the park project. Southwest Airlines donated 2 airline tickets that were raffled off to help finance the project.
New BBQ grills and picnic tables at Cypress Cove Park 9/7/2002 - Thanks to Jim Young for purchasing 3 new picnic tables and 3 new BBQ grills. The funding came from the City of Irving's Community Partnership Fund. Greg, Jo Ann, & Jeremy Hoffmann, Jeremy's friend, Rose and Gene Stoneburner, Al Kohutek, Paul Poole, Wayne Lee, Bill Heater, Jim & Darlene Young, and David & Carol Kern, helped assemble the tables and build the foundations at the park. About 3 yards of cement were used to build the foundations.
New Bridge at Cypress Cove Park September 20, 2003 - Thanks to Marty Tackett, Rick Huffman, Gene Stoneburner, Jim Young, Greg Hoffmann, and Tom Root for designing and building the a new foot bridge at Cypress Cove Park. The funding came from the City of Irving's Community Partnership Fund.
New ILA boat dock at Cypress Cove Park
August 22, 2004 - It was reminiscent of an old fashion barn raising as the
Lake Vilbig neighbors came together to build the dock.
Rick Huffman was the project manager and began working on the dock many months
before the first pole was set. Rick was able to secure a $1,500.00 grant
from the City of Irving’s Community Partnership Fund. That along with
$509.89 from the ILA general fund was used to purchase the materials.
Special thanks to Cliff Cook of Crossroads Trailer Services for donating the use
of a trailer to pickup the material. Marty Tackett for rigging up the
pneumatic tools to use around the water. Gene Stoneburner for donating
electrical power near the dock. Jane and Bill Heater for providing the
lunch on the last day of the project and Tom Root for acting as crew chief while
Rick was away Saturday morning.
A total of 19 ILA volunteers put in a total of 254.5 hours on the project.
Some volunteers took vacation time off at their place of employment to help
during the week, some worked in the rain, and some brought the tools needed for
the project.
Volunteers & hours worked: Rick Huffman 56.5 hrs, Beverly Root 17.5 hrs, Tom
Root 40.5 hrs, Andy MacAbee 21.5 hrs, Steve Dillon 11 hrs, George Denton 14 hrs,
Jim Young 6 hrs, Jon Griffin 5 hrs, Marty Tackett 6 hrs, Tom Kressley 7 hrs, Tim
Casbeer 8 hrs, Gene Stoneburner 14.5 hrs, Bill Grigsby 10 hrs, Chris Huffman 9
hrs, Al Kohutek 6 hrs, Eric Donley 3 hrs, David Donley 3 hrs, Peggy Tackett 8.5
hrs, Kevin Stiegler 7.5 hrs.
The new dock extends 24 feet into the water, is 39 feet long, and it’s
measurements are within the ILA’s lake easement restrictions and covenants.
A big thanks to all who helped make this possible!
New ILA boat ramp at Cypress Cove Park - 2011
This is a full sized ramp that will accommodate full sized boat.
The old ramp was hard to back down due to the limited turn
around area and cypress trees have grown up next to it. The new ramp is in
a better location and was professionally installed.
Five new picnic tables were added to the park in April 2014.
T-dock upgrage. July 1, 2016. Big thanks to the John Mikalik who organized and picked up the materials, Greg Hoffman, Eric Kelcher, Mike Gilger, Steve Dillon for working on the project and the ILA for funding the project.
Other History
January 1996 - Centennial Homes, Inc sell last parcel of land to Sumeer homes, Inc. (Bayview area).The following was taken from a web message board: Eric Hankins and his dad worked for Vilbig Const. Co. He remembers the Vilbig brothers who were old at the time of his employment. He said even though they were getting up in years that they still came to work every day. He recalls their mechanics, Jesse Nutt (the tire man) and the head mechanic (his brother-in-law) Dub something or other. Also a Forman by the name of Blackie who operated the drag-line that dug Lake Vilbig. Eric's dad moved dozers by truck and He was the grease/fuel monkey.
This ad is from the 1932 Dallas Yellow Pages.
The following story was printed in the November 22,
1925, Dallas Daily Times Herald, pt. 3, p. 1.
Present Concerns in District Are
Among Largest and Most Important in City.
_________
Plans were recently announced by the company for
undertaking the production of nitric acid and sulphate of alumina in addition to
sulphuric acid.
Reinforced concrete pipe now coming into such general
use throughout the country for a number of years, is being produced in quantity
by the Massey Concrete products company at its West Dallas plant. This concern
is as important in its line as are the others of the district in theirs.
Newcomers in the section west of the river are the
Ly-Nola company and the Chicago Bridge and Iron works. Both of these concerns
have recently pur-chased sites in the tract of the Eagle Ford Land and
Industrial company and are erecting improvements.
The Ly-Nola company, manufacturers of soft drinks and
vinegar, will move its new location from South Dallas as soon as the new plant
is completed. The Chicago Bridge and Iron company, which formerly maintained
only an office in Dallas, will use its new site for a warehouse.
The Eagle Ford Land and Industrial company's
development is expected to play an important part in future activity in the West
Dallas district. It consists of 220 acres adjoining the town site of Eagle Ford
on the T. & P., and is restricted to industrial purposes. Nearby property is
available for residences. The company is waging an active campaign to bring new
industries to Dallas, and it is understood that several of real importance will
be secured during the next twelve months.
Future Development.
Another large industry in the West Dallas section is
the Vilbig Sand and Gravel company. It is engaged in quarrying and
hauling of large quantities of sand and gravel for use in construction
enterprises throughout this section of the country.
Development of the West Dallas district in the future
is expected to be one of the interesting features of the general growth in
manufacturing which business leaders say will accompany the next stages in the
advance of Dallas. This development will, of course, be shared by other
extensive industrial areas.
The business interests of Dallas working with the
slogan: "More Smokestacks for the Southwest," have launched an
intensive campaign not only to bring new manufacturers to the city, but also to
establish local concerns that will make use of the natural resources with which
Texas abounds and will supply the market needs which can be so conveniently met
with Dallas as a center.
The most conservative observers agree that conditions
are such that the movement cannot but meet with success and are confidently
predicting that Dallas will grow to a city of 500,000 largely as a result of
increased activity in manufacturing lines.
The following story is from someone who lived on the lake
before it was built.
J.D. Savage and his wife live on Pebblebrook Trail and have lived there since
October of 1971...a few years before the lake was ever started. He watched
the Galveston Bay dredge as it raked solid from the bottom and pumped it out to
other areas creating land fill and elevating the land where houses not sit.
It ran 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 12 months...September to
September...then stopped.
Life on the lake
This
was taken from the Dallas Morning News, Irving Section. See news and
current events on this website for the full story.
Families enjoy hidden surprises of the Vilbig area
05/06/2001
By Barrie Page Hill / The Dallas Morning News
Quarry days
Vilbig Lake got its start as a series of gravel pits.
"The lakes were my grandfather and great-grandfather's gravel pits," says David Vilbig, owner of Vilbig and Associates, a Dallas civil engineering and surveying firm. Mr. Vilbig's great-grandfather, August Vilbig, and August's brother, John Vilbig, opened Vilbig Brothers Excavation in 1886. Mr. Vilbig's grandfather, J. Lee Vilbig, took over the business, operating it for many years as one of the area's premier galena pits.
The Vilbig family sold the land to Centennial Homes in 1972, and the developer built homes around the lake.
Kevin Kendro, an archivist with the city, turned up several maps and aerial photos of the area. The lake doesn't exist in a 1930 aerial photo, but it does appear in a 1959 aerial shot. In 1964, an Irving road map indicates the lake had been named Lake Vilbig.
"I've also heard it was a catfish farm at one time," says Wayne Lee, senior civil engineer with Irving's Public Works Department. Mr. Lee has lived in the neighborhood since 1992. "We really don't know a lot about the history of the area, but we know we all like living here."
Irving Daily News - May 21, 1984
Centennial Homes and early lake development.
Found this in a file somewhere:
