Lake Hamilton and Lake Catherine are a pair of

man-made lake A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...

s located in

Hot Springs, Arkansas Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs for which the city is n ...

, serving as a tourist attraction for the area. Both Lakes were developed by Arkansas Power & Light.

History

Lake Hamilton

Lake Hamilton is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

near

Lake Hamilton, Arkansas Lake Hamilton is a census-designated place (CDP) in Garland County, Arkansas, United States. It is part of the Hot Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,135 at the 2010 census. It is named after Lake Hamilton, one of the are ...

and Hot Springs, Arkansas, located on the

Ouachita River The Ouachita River ( ) is a river that runs south and east through the U.S. states of Arkansas and Louisiana, joining the Tensas River to form the Black River near Jonesville, Louisiana. It is the 25th-longest river in the United State ...

. It was named after Hamilton Moses, who later became president and chairman of the board for Arkansas Power and Light. The lake was created in 1932, formed as a result of Carpenter Dam (after

Flavius Josephus Carpenter Flavius Josephus Carpenter (March 24, 1851, in Franklin County, Georgia – August 2, 1933, at home in Arkadelphia, Clark County, Arkansas), was an American Civil War veteran, steamboat captain, U.S. Marshal, and entrepreneurial businessman. H ...

) which was constructed to generate

hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

. The dam, which extends in a length of and a height of high, was completed in earlier in 1931. The lake subsequently functioned as a recreational site after it started attracted tourists, later spurring the development of resorts, restaurants, and motels in its area, along with various water sport facilities. The Garvan Woodland Gardens, a botanical park is located along its shore. Carpenter Dam was later listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1992.

Lake Catherine

Lake Catherine is the smaller of the two lakes, sized at . The Lake Catherine State Park is located on the lake's shore. The lake was created in the 1920's with the building of Remmel Dam, a concrete-and-steel Ambursen-type buttressed dam. Remmel Dam was created to provide hydroelectricity, but the lake later developed into a recreational site as a result of lake's location next to Hot Springs.

Accidents

On May 1, 1999, an accident involving the tourist boats on Lake Hamilton resulted in the deaths of thirteen people. Former State Senator

Jim Keet James Holland Keet (born May 12, 1949), is an American restaurateur and politician in Little Rock, Arkansas, and a former member of the Arkansas House of Representatives and Arkansas Senate. Keet was the Republican nominee for governor of Arkansa ...

, who was boating with his family at the time of the tragedy, co-sponsored a bill that added several new water safety rules to the Arkansas code four years earlier, including the requirement that children wear life preservers on most boats. However, the provision did not apply to

DUKW The DUKW (colloquially known as Duck) is a six-wheel-drive amphibious modification of the -ton CCKW trucks used by the U.S. military during World War II and the Korean War. Designed by a partnership under military auspices of Sparkman & Step ...

("duck") boats, the kind involved in the tragedy, which sank with barely thirty seconds of warning.

Gallery

Lake Hamilton

Lake Hamilton.jpg, Lake Hamilton viewed from Garvan Woodland Gardens property. Lake Hamilton 004.jpg, Lake Hamilton Lake Hamilton 002.jpg, Lake Hamilton Garvan Woodland Gardens 001.jpg, Garvan Woodlands Gardens by Lake Hamilton Garvan Woodland Gardens 002.jpg, Garvan Woodlands Gardens by Lake Hamilton

Lake Catherine

NPS hot-springs-regional-map.pdf, Regional map over Hot Springs Lake Catherine State Park 001.jpg, Lake Catherine

References

External links

Lake Catherine State ParkLake CatherineLake Hamilton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake Hamilton And Lake Catherine

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

Protected areas of Garland County, Arkansas Protected areas of Hot Spring County, Arkansas Buildings and structures in Garland County, Arkansas Buildings and structures in Hot Spring County, Arkansas Bodies of water of Garland County, Arkansas Bodies of water of Hot Spring County, Arkansas Dams on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas National Register of Historic Places in Hot Spring County, Arkansas National Register of Historic Places in Garland County, Arkansas Ouachita River Entergy Lake Catherine State Park

History

Lake Hamilton

Lake Catherine

Accidents

Gallery

Lake Hamilton

Lake Catherine

See also

References

External links