Pymantuning Lake

Pymatuning Lake is a man made lake in Pennsylvania and Ohio on land that was once a very large swamp. The first known ihabitants were the Mound builders. Two of their mounds were flooded over by the creation of Pymatuning Lake. The Lenni Lenape were living in the area when European settlers fist came to the area. The lake is named for the chief, who lived in the area at the time, Pihmtomink. The Lenape were pushed out of the area by the Seneca tribe a member of the larger Iroquois Confederacy. The Seneca were defeated by General Anthony Wayne's forces during the Northwest Indian War and left the area under the terms of the Treaty of Greenville. This treaty marked the beginning of the white man's domination of the area.

The first settlers to the area were farmers. Life was not easy for the farmers. The land was very swampy and very difficult to reclaim. Farm animals that wondered off were often lost in the quicksands of the swamp or fell prey to predators like foxes, bears and mountain lions. The swamps were infested with mosquitoes that brought yellow fever to the settlers.

Building a dam on the Shenango River was first explored in 1911. A massive flood in 1913 caused $3 million in damage and took several lives. The Pennsylvania State Legislature approved a budget of $1.2 million to build at dam across the Shenango, but Governor John K. Tener slashed the budget to just $100,000. The legislature took action again in 1917. This time approving a $400,000 budget under the condition that the needed land in Ohio be purchased by the private sector. The Pymatuning Land Company was formed and raised the needed funds to purchase the needed Ohio properties. The land was finally acquired in full by 1931 when Governor Gifford Pinchot approved $1.5 million to complete the dam. 7,000 men began work on the dam in 1931 and the project was completed in 1934. The final cost of building the dam was $3,717,739 and the lake now holds 64,275,000,000 gallons of water, covering 17,088 acres over a length of 17 miles with a width of 1.6 miles at the widest and 70 miles of shoreline with a maximum depth of 35 feet. The lake has served to provide a water supply for the Shenango and Beaver valleys, it has lessoned the damage caused by floods, and provided recreation for the people of Ohio and Pennsylvania.

References

• "Pymatuning State Park". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Retrieved 2007-01-20.
• "Park Spotlight: Pymatuning State Park". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Retrieved 2007-01-20.
• "Pymatuning State Park". Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved 2007-01-20.