History

History of "177" Lake Estates

The 177 acres of heavily wooded, slightly rolling land developed into 177 Lakes Estates, was an original land grant to James Ford on February 15, 1838 for his service as a soldier in the Army of the Republic of Texas. It was transferred by a hand-written document to Charles B. Stewart on November 4, 1852 by S. Crosby, Commissioner of the Texas Land Office and signed by Governor P. H. Bell.

This land, which makes up the subdivision today, was sold over the years, but never divided. It was transferred through a succession of owners, finally to Miss Mattie N. Jones, who sold and deeded the land to O. A. Gerloff on August 6, 1936. Mr. and Mrs. Gerloff moved a trailer house to the raw, heavily timbered land in 1959 and then moved into their new home on a subdivision lot in Section 1 in 1961. O. A. Gerloff was a Vocational Agriculture teacher in McLennan County, Texas from 1931 to 1944; then a businessman in Temple, Texas until 1960. Mrs. Helen Gerloff, prior to her marriage in 1932, was Helen Holt, a native of Keenan, Texas and was a 7th grade teacher at Richards, Texas during the 1931-32 school year.

By 1960, Mr. Gerloff had developed the plans to build a subdivision where people could come for the weekend and enjoy the quiet county life. All of the preliminary elevation, lot layouts, road platting, lake planning and physical layouts were done by him. Sales advertising for lots located on the south side of Keenan Cutoff started in 1960 and ended about 1965, when the subdivision became well established. The sale of the lots of the north side of Keenan Cutoff began in 1966.

In a letter to the property owners in October 1964, Mr. and Mrs. Gerloff expressed their desire to deed the lakes, parks, drainage ways, and dams (approximately 25 acres) to the Homeowners Association (HOA). The association would have the responsibility of maintaining these properties. In November 1964, the HOA, consisting of Sections I-VI, was organized and incorporated as a non-profit organization by the State of Texas. The Deed Restrictions and Bylaws were filed with Montgomery County. With the exception of the private roads across the two dams, all the streets were dedicated to the county. In 1966, Section VII, located north of Keenan Cutoff, was developed, thus completing the entire subdivision.

Land for a chapel was donated by the Gerloffs and the building of the Chapel of the Lakes started in 1965 under the guidance of Helen Gerloff.

The subdivision is now made up of 323 lots, two lakes and five parks. Volunteers constructed the HOA building in 1998. While many of the original owners were weekend residents, the subdivision is now home to approximately 200 families. Mr. and Mrs. Gerloff's dream of creating a "shangria-la" for people to enjoy has certainly become a reality.