Silver Lake is part of a pair of freshwater lakes including Lake Comegys in Rehoboth, Sussex County,

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

. The two lakes were formed by receding glaciers, and now serves as a bird refuge.

Description

Both lakes were formed during the end of the last ice age, from runoff from the retreating

Wisconsin glaciation The Wisconsin Glacial Episode, also called the Wisconsin glaciation, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleated in the northern North American Cor ...

. Silver Lake was among the lakes formed by this process. Of the two bodies, Silver Lake is larger. The smaller Lake Comegys was formed in the early 19th century when pollution from a local tannery sealed off a far end of Silver Lake, isolating the new body of water. Both lakes are notably close to the nearby

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, and are considered to be the closest freshwater lakes to the Atlantic Ocean in the United States. The pair are also the only natural freshwater lakes in the state of Delaware. During the

age of sail The Age of Sail is a period that lasted at the latest from the mid-16th (or mid- 15th) to the mid- 19th centuries, in which the dominance of sailing ships in global trade and warfare culminated, particularly marked by the introduction of naval ...

Silver Lake was used by passing ships to replenish their supply of fresh water. Lake Comegys Pic

Both lakes are fed by runoff and underground springs. In the 1920s the DuPont Company used dynamite to help drain sediment buildup in the lakes. In 1933, the state of Delaware established both lakes as state bird refuges. Delaware passed a resolution in 2004 declaring both lakes to be natural treasures of Delaware, citing the lakes' unique proximity to the Atlantic and their status as the only natural freshwater lakes in the state. The lakes are also managed by Save Our Lakes Alliance3, a local non-profit.

References

{{reflist Lakes of Delaware Bodies of water in Sussex County, Delaware Rehoboth Beach, Delaware