The collection consists of a copy of a contract between the City of Dallas and T.E. Shutt regarding work done for the construction of Garza Dam.  Shutt was hired to collect boring samples to help determine the type of foundation needed for the future dam.

Garza Dam, also known as the Lake Dallas Dam, is now a part of Lewisville Lake, which is owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District.  Its purpose is to control potential flood waters originating within the Elm Fork (Trinity River) drainage basin. The resulting reservoir also served as the City of Dallas' primary water supply for about thirty years.  The dam is significant in city history because it successfully met water supply needs for a population that more than doubled between 1920 and 1930. 

Named for the village of Garza, Texas, the dam’s five million dollar construction cost was paid through a 1923 City of Dallas bond election. The dam was designed by the Dallas firm of Nagle and Thompson and the winning bid was awarded to the W. E. Callahan Construction Company of Dallas.  Work commenced in October 1924, and ended in May 1927.  The completed dam was 11,000 feet long and 80 feet high.  At the time of its first operation, it impounded about 63 billion gallons of water.  It was extensively documented in written and photographic studies by the Dallas Waterworks (now Dallas Water Utilities).