Lake Holiday is a artificial lake located northwest of

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

in Frederick County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The lake flows into Isaacs Creek, an east-flowing tributary of Back Creek, which flows north through

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

to the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...

. The main creeks feeding the lake are Isaacs Creek and Yeiders Run/Miller Run. Residential development surrounds the lake and forms the Lake Holiday

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(CDP), with a population at the 2010 census of 1,905. It is an unincorporated community subject to a

property owners association A homeowner association (or homeowners' association, abbreviated HOA, sometimes referred to as a property owners' association or POA), or a homeowner community, is a private association-like entity often formed either ''ipso jure'' in a building ...

. The postal address is Cross Junction, which lies to the northeast along U.S. Route 522, and has a ZIP Code of 22625. Lake Holiday is approximately one mile southeast of the boundary with the western border of

Hampshire County, West Virginia Hampshire County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,093. Its county seat is Romney, West Virginia's oldest town (1762). The county was created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1754, ...

. Winchester is to the southeast via US 522, and

Berkeley Springs, West Virginia Berkeley Springs is a town in, and the county seat of, Morgan County, West Virginia, United States, in the state's Eastern Panhandle. "Berkeley Springs" is also commonly used to refer to the area in and around the Town of Bath. In 1776, the Virg ...

, is to the north.

Description

Construction on the dam that forms the lake began in the late 1960s and was finished early in 1972. According to history from the original builders of Lake Holiday, it took nearly 12 years for the lake to fill to capacity. There appears to be additional information from a second source that states the lake filled to capacity when in 1972 between June 16 and 23,

Hurricane Agnes Hurricane Agnes in 1972 was the costliest hurricane to hit the United States at the time, causing an estimated $2.1 billion in damage. The hurricane's death toll was 128. The effects of Agnes were widespread, from the Caribbean to Canada, ...

hit the Mid-Atlantic states, dumping approximately of rain per hour, which caused the lake to fill in a matter of days.

Scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...

is deemed unsafe and not allowed. A new

spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure tha ...

has been installed on the existing dam. The spillway was required by the

US Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

due to changing standards and post 11 September 2001 incidents. The construction consisted of the building of a new bridge and a redesign of the downstream creek bed. The only other option was to reduce the level of the lake by . The spillway project was completed in June 2013 with a grand reopening of South Lakeview Drive (spillway road) on

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

. The improvement cost the residents of the lake community over $10.5 million. Lake Holiday has a private

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

available for use by members. There are also tennis and basketball courts located near the club house.

References

External links

Lake Holiday Country Club and Property Owners Association
{{authority control Chesapeake Bay watershed Census-designated places in Frederick County, Virginia Census-designated places in Virginia