Georgetown Lake is a reservoir in
Deer Lodge and
Granite Counties,
Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...
. The reservoir impounds the North Fork of Flint Creek and lies at an elevation of just west of the
Anaconda Range
The Anaconda Range, informally known as the "Pintlers", is a group of high mountains located in southwestern Montana, in the northwestern United States. The mountain range takes its name from the nearby town of Anaconda, founded by Marcus Daly ...
. The reservoir is a popular recreational area with campgrounds, resorts and picnic areas along its shoreline.
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History
The reservoir was created in 1885 to produce power for the town of Phillipsburg and area mining operations.[
Granite-Bimetallic Mining Company of Philipsburg completed construction of the Georgetown Dam and powerhouse in 1900. By 1906, the powerhouse was supplying electricity to the smelter in Anaconda. In 1909 the ]Anaconda Copper Mining Company
The Anaconda Copper Mining Company, known as the Amalgamated Copper Company between 1899 to 1915, was an American mining company headquartered in Butte, Montana. It was one of the largest trusts of the early 20th century and one of the largest mi ...
bought the dam and powerhouse. The Montana Power Company assumed control of power generation in 1912. The powerhouse operated until 1990, when Montana Power mothballed the facility and sold the dam and generation facilities to Granite County.
The lake assumed the name of Georgetown when the dam flooded the area known as Georgetown Flats. Georgetown Flats was the location of a placer mining camp operated by George Cameron from 1867. By 1886, most of the residents of the Georgetown camp had abandoned the flats.
Angling
Georgetown Lake is considered a Blue Ribbon fishery A Blue Ribbon fishery is a designation made in the United States by government and other authorities to identify recreational fisheries of extremely high quality. Official ''Blue Ribbon'' status is generally based on a set of established criteria ...
and holds trophy-sized rainbow
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...
and brook trout.
References
External links
Georgetown Lake Bathymetric Map
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
{{authority control
Bodies of water of Deer Lodge County, Montana
Bodies of water of Granite County, Montana
Reservoirs in Montana