Grand Lake o' the Cherokees is situated in Northeast

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

in the

foothills Foothills or piedmont are geography, geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an highland, upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low terrain, relief hill ...

of the Ozark Mountain Range. It is often simply called Grand Lake. It is administered by the Grand River Dam Authority.

History

The ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'' credits Henry Holderman, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma as first envisioning Grand River as a source for hydroelectric power for the

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three list of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907), Old Cheroke ...

. Even prior to Oklahoma statehood in 1907, Holderman began building political support for such a project. A feasibility study by the Army Corps of Engineers attracted favorable attention in the Oklahoma legislature, leading to creation of the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA), a state agency, in 1935. Construction began in 1938 on the Pensacola Dam on the Grand River (V

Neosho River The Neosho River is a tributary of the Arkansas River in eastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma in the United States. Its tributaries also drain portions of Missouri and Arkansas. The river is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National ...

) as a

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

project. The dam was completed in March 1940, creating the lake behind it. Between 1941 and 1946, the U.S. government took control of Pensacola Dam to divert power to the war effort. Control was returned to the GRDA by the Congress and President Truman amid local celebration in August 1946.

Pensacola Dam

Pensacola Dam is claimed to be the longest multiple-arch

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

in the world, its main span consisting of 51 arches totaling in length, and supporting a walkway and State Highway 28, a narrow, two-lane highway. A 120-megawatt, six-unit powerhouse sits at the west end, with 21 spillways on the east end. "Eyes on Texas & Oklahoma: Grand Lake o' the Cherokees" Website
/ref> The project's chief engineer was W. R. Holway (who was also responsible for Tulsa's

Spavinaw water project The Spavinaw Water Project was established to provide fresh water for Tulsa, Oklahoma from a site on Spavinaw Creek near the town of Spavinaw in Mayes County, Oklahoma. Planning and financing began in 1919, The project scope included site select ...

), while the architect of record for the PWA-style

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

design of the dam and powerhouse was Tulsan John Duncan Forsyth.Jim Gabbert, "5 Buildings by John Duncan Forsyth"
''Preservation Oklahoma News''
, July 2006, p.5. Another mile east, through the town of Disney, lie two small sister dams known as "the spillways" with an additional 21 gates, surrounded by public parks and launching ramp. About 510,000

cubic yard A cubic yard (symbol yd3)IEEE Std 260.1-2004 is an Imperial unit, imperial / U.S. customary unit, U.S. customary (non-SI non-Metric system, metric) unit of volume used in Canada and the United States. It is defined as the volume of a cube with sid ...

s (390,000 m³) of

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

were used in the construction of Pensacola Dam, poured 24 hours a day in just 20 months with Depression-era labor. The lake and the electric utilities, as well as other projects in the region along the Grand River, are administered by the GRDA, an agency created by the Oklahoma Legislature in 1935. Grand Lake has a surface area of of water, a storage volume of 1,515,416 acre-feet,http://www.owrb.ok.gov/studies/reports/reports_pdf/GrandLake--hydrologicsurvey.pdf and of

shore A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

line. Unlike other lakes in Oklahoma, Grand Lake is a deep and mostly rocky lake. The average depth for Grand Lake is 36.3 feet. Its mean

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. In recent years, low fall elevations of 741 were kept by the GRDA to allow millet seeding for migratory waterfowl, resulting in conflict between property owners, environmentalists, and federal agencies. While not expressly built for flood control, Grand Lake contributes to the flood-prone

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in Colorado, specifically ...

watershed. The Army Corps of Engineers controls releases into the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System when lake levels exceed , although locking into Grand Lake is not possible. Grand Lake and its neighbor, Lake Hudson (also managed by the GRDA), are the only two major lakes in the state where one can build directly on the waterfront. Residents of the town of

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

and Native American groups have objected to proposals to increase high water levels at Pensacola Dam to maintain the water level at Grand Lake. Miami residents are concerned that water backing up downstream from Miami on the Neosho River can contribute to Miami's flooding problems.

Recreation

The lake is a popular destination for entertainment in the

Green Country Green Country, sometimes referred to as Northeast Oklahoma, is the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Oklahoma, which lies west of the northern half of Arkansas, the southwestern corner the way of Missouri, and south of Kansas. Alternate ...

region. A number of shows are in the area, as well as resorts, and a 67-foot long, twin-deck, paddle-wheel riverboat called the ''Cherokee Queen'', which has been in operation since the 1940s. Consistently ranked among the top

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

lakes in the United States, Grand Lake also houses a wide variety of other

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

and nonsport fishing. Due to its predictable winds, it attracts sailboaters from across the country, as well.

In literature

*In the book '' The Bean Trees'' by

Barbara Kingsolver Barbara Ellen Kingsolver (born April 8, 1955) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, essayist, and poet. Her widely known works include '' The Poisonwood Bible'', the tale of a missionary family in the Congo, and '' Animal, Vegetable, Mira ...

, Taylor, Turtle, Estevan, and Esperanza visit the lake.

References

External links

Grand Lake area information, photos and videos on TravelOK.com
Official travel and tourism website for the State of Oklahoma
Grand Lake Maps

Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Grand River Dam Authority

Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory
{{authority control Protected areas of Delaware County, Oklahoma Protected areas of Mayes County, Oklahoma Protected areas of Ottawa County, Oklahoma Reservoirs in Oklahoma Lakes of the U.S. Interior Highlands Bodies of water of the Ozarks Works Progress Administration in Oklahoma Ozarks