Laurel Lake — also known as Laurel Forge Pond — is a water body with recreation area at

Pine Grove Furnace State Park Pine Grove Furnace State Park is a protected Pennsylvania area that includes Laurel and Fuller Lakes in Cooke Township of Cumberland County. The Park accommodates various outdoor recreation activities, protects the remains of the Pine Grove I ...

. It is located in the eastern part of Cooke Township, Cumberland County.

History

The lake was created for supplying a water race to Laurel Forge by an 1830 dam on

Mountain Creek Mountain Creek is a ski resort in Vernon Township, Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. It is located on New Jersey Route 94, from the George Washington Bridge. Mountain Creek contains of skiing area, night skiing, snowboarding, a ...

. In 1855 and again in 1889, the downstream Upper Mill dam (now Eaton-Dikeman mill) was breached by downwash when the Laurel Forge breached. In 1919, the Laurel Dam breached and washed out the Hunters Run and Slate Belt branch and breached the Upper Mill dam at Mount Holly. The lake was a popular camp location. The Camp Rothrock Boy Scout facility in the area, with wooden shelters and a dining room, used Laurel Lake's beaches in 1922. In 1921, "Laurel Lake Park" was one of 26 camps built by the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...

and maintained by the state for camping tourists, and the public camp was still going strong in 1923. By 1929, the Gettysburg Academy conducted week-end camps at Laurel Dam. (A dam repair was performed in 1929.) Camp Lion was at the Laurel Dam in 1933. In 1947, sand was added to the lake's beach.

Gettysburg College Gettysburg College is a private liberal arts college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1832, the campus is adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Gettysburg College has about 2,600 students, with roughly equal numbers of men and women. ...

used the park for football camp in both 1941 (at the 1941 Carlisle YMCA Camp site) and in 1947. Camp Thompson was at the lake in 1949 and 1953. A fire burned 7 acres near the lake in 1963. In 1965 the lake was closed due to contamination and subsequently re-opened. In 1979 the Laurel Forge Pond name was designated in the USGS's

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

(GNIS) as feature 1178931, ). Laurel Lake was so named in 1990 (1194510, ). The lake was drained for repairs in November 1994 and then re-opened. The lake and dam underwent reconditioning in 2006–2007. Laurel Lake is now part of

, one of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

's state parks.

References

External links

* {{authority control Lakes of Pennsylvania Bodies of water of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania South Mountain Range (Maryland−Pennsylvania)

History

See also

References

External links