Lake Hancock is north of Bartow, Florida in

Polk County Polk County is the name of twelve counties in the United States, all except two named after president of the United States James Knox Polk: * Polk County, Arkansas * Polk County, Florida * Polk County, Georgia * Polk County, Iowa * Polk Count ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. It is ecologically important.

Lake

Lake Hancock is located in the Polk Upland area between the Winter Haven Ridge and Lakeland Ridge. As part of the upper

Peace River The Peace River (french: links=no, rivière de la Paix) is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River in th ...

watershed, the lake has ecological importance throughout southwest Florida according to the Southwest Florida Water Management District. At , it is one of the largest lakes in Polk County; the center of the cities of Bartow, Lakeland, and Winter Haven roughly form an equilateral triangle with sides of and Lake Hancock forms over 25% of that triangle. The lake is shallow, with an average depth of and a maximum depth of .

Flora and fauna

The lake is surrounded by cypress forests, with the understory primarily red maple and black willow. The open areas of the lake are relatively free from native vegetation, although hydrilla can occasionally be an issue and algae is abundant. There is a substantial

American alligator The American alligator (''Alligator mississippiensis''), sometimes referred to colloquially as a gator or common alligator, is a large crocodilian reptile native to the Southeastern United States. It is one of the two extant species in the gen ...

presence along the shoreline feeding on one of the largest colonial wading bird rookeries in central Florida. Although many lakes in Polk County are utilized by sports fishermen, Lake Hancock has not been used for recreational fishing in decades. The dominant fish in the lake are

blue tilapia The blue tilapia (''Oreochromis aureus'') is a species of tilapia, a fish in the family Cichlidae. Native to Northern and Western Africa, and the Middle East, through introductions it is now also established elsewhere, including parts of the ...

and

threadfin shad The threadfin shad (''Dorosoma petenense'') is a small pelagic fish common in rivers, large streams, and reservoirs of the Southeastern United States. Like the American gizzard shad, the threadfin shad has an elongated dorsal ray, but unlike the ...

, and suckermouth catfish.

Settlement history

The first settlements in the area occurred in 1849, when small farms were established in the area as a result of migration from a hurricane in the

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater ...

area. The slave settlement of Minatti (meaning "

manatee Manatees (family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing three of the four living speci ...

") was established on the south shore of the lake east of Saddle Creek after the

First Seminole War The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were three related military conflicts in Florida between the United States and the Seminole, citizens of a Native American nation which formed in the region during the early 1700s. Hostilities ...

. Oponay, an Okmulgee Upper Creek allied with

Red Stick Red Sticks (also Redsticks, Batons Rouges, or Red Clubs), the name deriving from the red-painted war clubs of some Native American Creeks—refers to an early 19th-century traditionalist faction of these people in the American Southeast. Made ...

leader Red McQueen, lived across the lake about two miles away and had peach, corn, potatoes, rice, and other crops worked by his Black slaves in the village. The settlement was destroyed by the end of the Second Seminole War in 1842. The Polk County Sheriff's Office's Burnham-McCall Training Center occupies a site in front of the former settlement site.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hancock Lakes of Polk County, Florida Lakeland, Florida