John Paul Hammerschmidt Lake is a reservoir on the Arkansas River and an integral part of the McClellan–Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (MKARNS). It was formed by constructing the James W. Trimble Lock & Dam 13 across the river, near the city of Barling, Arkansas and extends upriver to

W. D. Mayo Lock and Dam The W. D. Mayo Lock and Dam (also known as: W. D. Mayo Lock and Dam 14) on the Arkansas River is an integral part of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (MKARNS). The dam is located at navigation mile 319.6, about southwest of For ...

, which is located inside the state of

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. Although the Trimble facility was completed in 1969, it was not allowed to pass commercial barges until 1971, when upstream facilities were completed. The lake also serves as the boundary between

Crawford Crawford may refer to: Places Canada * Crawford Bay Airport, British Columbia * Crawford Lake Conservation Area, Ontario United Kingdom * Crawford, Lancashire, a small village near Rainford, Merseyside, England * Crawford, South Lanarkshire, a ...

and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas, as well as dividing

Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party, he ...

, the county seat of Crawford County, and Fort Smith, the county seat of Sebastian County. The Arkansas-Oklahoma State Line is the western boundary of both Arkansas counties."John Paul Hammerschmidt Lake." Lake Browser. 2017.
Accessed December 22, 2017. Approximately one half of the lake's length lies within Oklahoma, where the lake separates Sequoyah County, Oklahoma from LeFlore County, Oklahoma. Townsend, Jay, "11 Great Things about the Arkansas River in Arkansas." Pacesetter Live. November 17, 2015.
Accessed December 21, 2017. Poteau River, an Arkansas River tributary which flows north in Oklahoma, crosses the Arkansas-Oklahoma state line immediately southwest of Fort Smith and discharges into Hammersmith Lake. The normal elevation of the lake is above sea level.

References

{{authority control Lakes of Arkansas Lakes of Oklahoma Infrastructure completed in 1969 Geography of Crawford County, Arkansas Geography of Sebastian County, Arkansas Geography of McIntosh County, Oklahoma Geography of Sequoyah County, Oklahoma 1969 establishments in Arkansas 1969 establishments in Oklahoma