Kingsley Dam, named for Minden banker George P. Kingsley, holds back Lake McConaughy on the North Platte River about 7 miles north of Ogallala. More than 1,500 workers built it in 1936–41 as a New Deal (PWA) project for the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District. The zoned hydraulic-fill earth dam is about 162–163 feet high, 3.1 miles long and 1,100 feet wide at the base, faced with rock and concrete "jackstones," and it was among the largest dams of its kind when finished. NE 61 runs across the top, and the Morning Glory spillway, the Kingsley hydroelectric plant (1984) and Lake Ogallala lie below. The Lake McConaughy Visitor and Water Interpretive Center is a quarter mile south on NE 61. A major refacing project is planned for about 2029.