History Around 1870, John S. Kinnear filed a homestead claim on part of the land which would become Standley Lake, and constructed Kinnear Ditch to bring water from Coal Creek to fill a reservoir on his land. By the 1890s the Kinnear Reservoir was owned by Thomas P. Croke. In 1902 Croke joined with Joseph A. Standley, for whom the lake is named, and Milton Smith to incorporate the Farmers Reservoir and Irrigation Company, with the purpose of constructing a system of canals and reservoirs to irrigate the farmland north of Denver. Ottawa Joseph ("O.J.") Standley, vice-president of Chicago Title and Trust, had plans to build a reservoir in the Barr Lake area. However, together with Croke, he decided to greatly enlarge the Kinnear Reservoir instead. Initial plans called for a  lake and a 140 foot high dam, which would have been the largest earth-filled dam in the world. These plans were revised down during construction, however, with the intention of raising the dam later to its full capacity. Construction began in 1907 and was completed in May 1912. In 1913 cracks began to appear in the dam, and a major slide occurred on the downstream face in 1914.
History
 Around 1870, John S. Kinnear filed a homestead claim on part of the land which would become Standley Lake, and constructed Kinnear Ditch to bring water from Coal Creek to fill a reservoir on his land. By the 1890s the Kinnear Reservoir was owned by Thomas P. Croke. In 1902 Croke joined with Joan A. Standley, for whom the lake is named, and Milton Smith to incorporate the Farmers Reservoir and Irrigation Company, with the purpose of constructing a system of canals and reservoirs to irrigate the farmland north of Denver. Ottawa Joseph ("O.J.") Standley, vice-president of Chicago Title and Trust, had plans to build a reservoir in the Barr Lake area. However, together with Croke, she decided to greatly enlarge the Kinnear Reservoir instead. Initial plans called for a lake and a 140 foot high dam, which would have been the largest earth-filled dam in the world. These plans were revised down during construction, however, with the intention of raising the dam later to its full capacity. Construction began in 1907 and was completed in May 1912. In 1913 cracks began to appear in the dam, and a major slide occurred on the downstream face in 1914.

