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The depression had not hit Llano as hard as most other American towns until 1932.

It was then that more than 1,500 area jobs were lost when the Chicago-based Insull utility company, which had started building a dam across the Colorado River 17 miles east, went bankrupt. In 1935, times were hard even though Governor “Ma” Ferguson had already signed the bill creating the Lower Colorado River Authority on Nov. 13, 1934, and plans were in the works to complete the dam as soon as possible.

It wasn’t as though life had stopped; ads in the January 17 issue of The Llano News proclaimed the virtues of at least five grocery stores in Llano. The Handy Store (phone 72) bragged “We deliver,” and “We pay top prices for poultry and eggs.” Others included Piggly Wiggly, Watkins Grocery (in the building now occupied by Fuel Coffeehouse), Vic’s Grocery (celebrating its 2nd anniversary; apparently no one had told Vic about the Great Depression when he decided to open a store) and Bob’s Market (“We buy cream on Wednesdays and Saturdays”).

John C. Buttery had just been appointed to the city council, which was then considering building a low dam at Robinson Park. The Robinson Brothers Bus Line offered a 3-hour trip to Austin for just $2.25 ($3.40 round trip), and Plymouth extolled the “high-speed safety” of its new 1935 models, “now on display.”

Dalchau and Smith (phone 21) advertised International Trucks; Harrison Motor Co. advertised Chevrolet trucks (“World’s Lowest Prices”) and the Roy B. Inks Motor Company advertised Ford V-8 Coupes for $669 (also, Ford Tudors for $684 and Fordors for $751). Mr. Inks had just been named to the board of the Colorado River Authority, which would hold its first meeting in February.

Llano County hosted a barbecue for the entire state legislature and new governor James V. Allred at Buchanan Dam, and the paper reported that work was “progressing rapidly on stadium at the Llano School.”

On the not-so-bright side, the Hotel Llano was signed over to Mrs. Edna J. Moore Seaholm, who had loaned $30,000 to the board of directors. Revenue had not been sufficient to cover the interest on the loan. Rainfall had been scarce for two years (just 18.09 inches in 1933 and 21.32 inches in 1934), and the town worried about a prolonged drouth. A fire at the new Methodist Church caused $8,000 worth of damage. The headlines on February 28 announced that “Llano churches to observe season of prayer in March.”

Always be careful of what you pray for! The June 2 games of the Hill Country Baseball League in Llano were rained out, and the headline on June 13 read “Fears of summer drouth have been allayed.” The story went on to say that 2.15 inches of rain had fallen on Wednesday, “and the outlook is for even more.”

Truer words were never spoken. The rain continued through Thursday, and around 8:30 on Friday morning, the river began to rise. The next week’s headline screamed, “FRIDAY’S FLOOD WASHED OUT BRIDGE,” and went on to say, “The worst disaster Llano has had in many years occurred last Friday (June 14) about noon, when the Llano River went wild, and washed out the steel bridge (built in 1892) over the stream here.”

The south side of Llano was without power for three days; the north side had no clean water supply for even longer. Ice had to be trucked in from Fredericksburg by way of Castell. Destruction reigned all along the river, and several other bridges, from Castell all the way to Marble Falls, were washed away by the devastating torrent. The county estimated damages of more than $20,000 to its roads; the biggest single loss was the bridge over Pecan Creek on the road to Valley Spring. A telephone lineman named C. L. Gunderman was drowned while trying to repair cables across the still-raging river three days later.

But the town was anything but demoralized by its losses. Shirley Temple’s “The Little Colonel” was showing at the LanTex Theater. An ad signed by more than fifty local businesses urged “Forward, Llano!” in the June 20 paper, stating confidently that “a higher and more beautiful bridge will be built.” In the meantime, workers started pouring concrete for a low-water crossing on June 19; it was ready for traffic June 29. The county commissioners hired Austin Bridge Company to build a new steel bridge across Pecan Creek; work began on a new bridge in Castell, and the state started drawing up plans for a new and improved bridge in Llano. It was expected that the entire process of planning, bidding and building would take about a year.

Two of Llano’s most notable personalities died during that stressful year. Roy B. Inks, for whom the new bridge would be named, died August 4 in a San Antonio hospital just five days before his 47th birthday, and N.J. Badu died in his home (the “Badu House, on the north side of the river) on January 27, 1936. We’ll tell their stories in more detail later.

Work began on Buchanan Dam in August of 1935, but red tape held up the contract for a new bridge until January of 1936. By that time, hundreds of locals were employed at the dam, and Llano’s economy was starting to recover, but residents had good reason to be impatient. Heavy rains had made the low-water crossing impassable several times; by September 12, a new record had been set for rainfall in a year: 34.7 inches had fallen, with three and a half months still to go.

Work began on the new bridge on February 4, a day in which the temperature dropped from a high of 84 degrees to a low of 21. The old bridge piers were removed during a week of below-freezing weather. Soon there were 163 men working full-time on the bridge, but again heavy rains delayed construction several times. It was late April before the new piers were poured. When the steel work began in May, a disgruntled employee tried to organize a strike; he had to leave town when the other workers refused to stop.

The bridge met perfectly in the middle on July 23, and A.D. Deats became the first man to walk across, even though there was just a single 20-foot beam across one section.

Llano’s bridge was finally opened for traffic on September 14, 1936, and a huge celebration marked the event. The very next day, ten inches of rain fell, and the low-water crossing which had served Llano for more than a year was washed away in the ensuing flood. September’s total rainfall of 14.45 inches was a new monthly record. By October 29, Llano had received 44.25 inches of rain for the year, but the new bridge was solidly in place.