Buckeye Lake

Buckeye Lake is a reservoir with a geographic area that ranges over three Ohio counties: Licking, Perry, and Fairfield. The name "Buckeye Lake" is used by a number of other entities including the village of Buckeye Lake, a state park and a former amusement park. The lake is the eighth largest reservoir in Ohio and encompasses more than 3100 acres. The area has a long and rich history that touches upon a number of key elements of county and state development, including natural history, commerce and transportation, and recreation and entertainment.

Prehistory

The space now occupied by Buckeye Lake had a much different appearance 200 years ago. Now a reservoir, or artificial lake, the area has been a drainage site for the region possibly since the last Ice Age and, though much smaller than it is now, has traditionally been a place covered by water. The native peoples who came to the area called the waters and wetlands the "Big Pond" or "Big Swamp."

Early European Settlement

When the first European settlers arrived in Central Ohio, they encountered a natural body of water in what is now southern Licking County, though much smaller than the present reservoir. The "Big Swamp" was roughly a tenth the size of the current reservoir. A band of swampy forest and wetland surrounded the natural pond, creating a series of basins which came to form the reservoir. Some stories maintain that the "Swamp" was actually several distinct bodies of water, though the first survey of the lake in 1801 by Elnathan Schofield recorded a single, united body of water, its length at about five miles with an average width of around 400 yards.

Among the first permanent settlers along the lake was Thomas Minthorn. His lifestyle of hunting, fishing, and farming among the thick tree cover around the pond and swamp was likely typical during the first half of the nineteenth century. During the construction of the canal and reservoir, Minthorn boarded many of the laborers tasked with controlling and manipulating the areas waterways, and his establishment developed into a well-known tavern. <Simpson, J., The Story of Buckeye Lake, 19-20 </ref>

The Licking Summit Reservoir

Buckeye Lake began to assume its current form with the canal-building projects undertaken by state governments in the early nineteenth century. Licking County was the site of the groundbreaking of the Ohio and Erie Canal, being one of the key, high elevation points along the proposed canal path. To facilitate the water levels needed for canal-boat travel, strategic reserves of water were needed, and the watery area in southern Licking County was destined to become one of these locations. An earthen dam was constructed near the southwestern end of the pond, near the section of the canal path known as the "Deep Cut" from the ridge of earth that had to be cut through to enable boat passage. Water levels of the pond began to rise, leading to the destruction of the forests that crowded the swampy edge of the pond and creating a tree graveyard observable into the 1870s.

Once filled, the water of the reservoir was used to regulate water levels along the nearby section of the canal. The water-covered expanded greatly, from about five miles in length to seven and a quarter and more than a mile wide at its greatest width.

While the shores of the "Big Swamp" were not popular places to build homes or villages, the banks of the reservoir became increasingly dotted with population centers: Millersport, Thornport, and what would become the village of Buckeye Lake, sprang up as a microcosm of commerce developed to cater to canal-boat traffic and the growing population that called the lake area home.

Buckeye Lake

In 1894, the state of Ohio legislated a state park designation for the reservoir and changed the name from Licking Summit Reservoir to Buckeye Lake.

The lake's draw as a tourist attraction grew in the 20th century with the area becoming known as "The Playground of Ohio." In the era of big band music, Buckeye Lake Amusement Park had a bustling scene of dance halls and star performers that included Louis Armstrong, Lawrence Welk, and many others. The Lake's popularity also drew unwelcome visitors and attention, such as a large Ku Klux Klan rally of more than 10,000 people that took place nearby in 1925. By the 1980s the Buckeye Lake Amusement Park and its glory days as a tourist attraction and music venue had ended.

The modern lake boasts a number of recreation activities, including boating, fishing, swimming and other water sports, as well as a decades-long revival of businesses that cater to lake goers.

The dam at Buckeye Lake underwent an extensive construction project from 2015 to 2018 to reinforce the structure and extend the life of the reservoir. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined that the dam had serious structural deficiencies. For work on the dam to commence, the water-level of the lake needed to be lowered. What was designed as a five-year project was completed in three, but the work on the dam stirred considerable controversy in the area; residents and businesses along the lake faced unsightly views and decreased recreation as lake levels dropped and dust and debris from the dam work, designed to prevent seepage and collapse, created issues for locals.

For more information on Buckeye Lake see:

Braig, Donna. Buckeye Lake Memories. Lake Regional Businesses, 1997. Brockway, Chance. Buckeye Lake. Arcadia Publishing, 2005. Simpson, Joseph. The Buckeye Lake Story. Hahn and Adair Printing, 1912.

J.G.

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