Lake Waccamaw
| Lake Waccamaw | |
|---|---|
| Location | Columbus County, North Carolina |
| Coordinates | 34°17′16″N 78°30′31″W / 34.28778°N 78.50861°W |
| Primary inflows | Big Creek; First Little, Second Little and Third Little Creeks |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface area | Template:Converta |
| Average depth | Template:Converta |
| Surface elevation | Template:Converta |
| Settlements | Lake Waccamaw |
Lake Waccamaw is a unique fresh water lake located in Columbus County in North Carolina. The lake is oval in shape and measures roughly 5 miles by 7 miles with an average depth of 7.5 feet. It is the largest of the natural Carolina Bay Lakes (Bladen Lake Group) with a total surface area of 8,936 acres (36 km²). The Lake is estimated to be 250,000 years old. The lake is fed mainly by Big Creek and the surrounding swamp lands. The organic matter from the decaying vegetation of the swamps makes the water dark. The Lake is full of life. It even contains some species, such as the Waccamaw Silverside, that are native only to Lake Waccamaw.
Lake Waccamaw has a broad, flat bottom of gyttja (mud) and peat encircled by sandy shallows and submerged sandy terraces that extend up to 500 m offshore. A natural sand bar, which extends along the northwest shore between a fringing cypress swamp and the main lake, was supplemented with spoil dredged to form a neighboring canal in 1946 and heavily developed with private residences. Big Creek delivers tea-colored water from the large cypress and gum swamp at the northeast corner of the lake, and the Waccamaw River emerges from the southern shore. A dam at the outlet built in 1943 now regulates lake levels which used to fall by as much as a meter during dry spells occasionally exposing the sand terraces. The dam is currently under renovation that should be completed by 2008 and hopes to regulate the water level better than previously.
Lake Waccamaw has 14 miles of shoreline and unlike most of the other Carolina Bay lakes it gets the majority of it's water from the surrounding swamp instead of direct rain water. A limestone bluff along the north shore filters the water and reduces the acidity levels making the lake ideal for a wide range of aquatic life.
History
Some believe Lake Waccamaw belongs to the Bladen Lake group, which may have been formed by meteorites. Dredges have brought up old charred tree stumps, and they support a theory that the lake is the basin left by a prehistoric peat fire. It is the largest natural Lake between Maine and Florida. Lake Waccamaw has a dam that serves to keep the Lake from shrinking in dry weather. The Waccamaw dam was built in 1926 by the state.
Lake Waccamaw has several feeders, called First Little, Second Little and Third Little Creeks and then Big Creek as well as water from the Friar swamp. Underground springs feed the creeks.
Before the arrival of European settlers to Lake Waccamaw, it was inhabited by Native American Indians. A place still called Indian Mounds is on the east shore and, on the site of one mound, it is said nothing will grow.
Charles the Second originally granted this land to one of the Lord Proprietors who made individual grants to those willing to settle in this part of the new world. These large grants were divided among heirs and new settlers. By the mid - 1700's, few of the early settlers or their descendants were left around the lake area. They were replaced by people such as John Powell, who brought cattle from Virginia to settle his grant of land.
John Powell's son, Absalom after the Revolution, started buying large areas of land. A N.C. Historical Marker was placed near his grave on August 22, 1933 at Lake Waccamaw. John Powell's son, Issac, of Lake Waccamaw was appointed first major for Bladen County militia in 1804 and a Justice of the Peace in 1806. He was the largest landowner of his day in Columbus County, owning over 10,000 acres (40 km²) - most of his land in the area of Lake Waccamaw.
A unusual phenomenon is connected with Lake Waccamaw. On hot summer days about four o'clock in the afternoon a line of dark blue extending all the way across the lake may be seen advancing. The blue wave rolls across the lake, finally breaking upon the northern shore as a slapping first wave. The wind pushing the wave reaches land and envelopes the town of Waccamaw in a cool constant breeze. It ordinarily continues throughout the afternoon and the night, dying down in the early morning hours of the next day. It is said that this breeze from the south will not fail more than four or five days in the course of a season.
Recent Environmental Events
The lack of rain in the eastern portion of North Carolina has affected the water level in Lake Waccamaw. Water levels have dropped greater than 15 inches below normal as of 2007. The record low is 19.5 inches recorded in 1993. The record high was 37 inches above normal in 1999.
Aquatic Life in Lake Waccamaw
Several endemic species are found only in or around the lake and nowhere else, including the Waccamaw darter, silverside and killifish. The water also contains a diversity of unusual mollusks. The endemic Waccamaw spike and Waccamaw fatmucket are among 15 species of mussels and clams in the lake. And, of the 11 snail species, the Waccamaw amnicola and siltsnail are also one-of-a-kind species.
Legend of Lake Wacamaw
There are many theories regarding the formation of Lake Waccamaw. This one is recorded in the book Recollections and Records. In the book the lakes origin is described in terms of a romantic myth. According to local tradition, the large and beautiful lake was at once a mound of flowers. The keeper of this beautiful garden was an American Indian princess who was know to all as the most beautiful princess in all the world. Each spring it became the custom for the chiefs of all tribes to send their sons to the camp of the Princess. There they were received from her hands a blessing and a wild rose that would bring them good luck. As the tale goes a young brave who had seen the princess asked her to become his wife. She replied that she had promised never to marry so that she could stay in the garden, teach, and send all of the tribes her blessings. The brave became very angry and swore that he would destroy the mound of flowers. His tribes invaded and overcame the Waccamaw braves and their chiefs. The princess knelt and asked to die in the garden. She requested that the mound of flowers be changed into a beautiful lake that man could not destroy. She asked too, that the lake would never become dry and that the waters should always be pure and crystal.
Scientific Theories of Formation
Lake Waccamaw is widley believed to be one of the Carolina Bay lakes. The formation of these lakes is described in detail at Carolina Bay
Interesting Facts
The Lake Waccamaw Depot museum, housed in a 1904 Atlantic Coastline Railroad Depot, is on the National Register of Historic Places. Exhibits include a 300-year-old Indian canoe, marine fossils recovered from the lake, natural history specimens, Waccamaw Siouan Indian artifacts, early European settlers, railroad including a caboose, local industries including turpentine, cypress shingles, logging, and tool manufacturing, and many photographs.