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 N ...

in Frederick County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

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

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

to the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

. 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 Place (United States Census Bureau), 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 counte ...

(CDP), with a population at the 2010 census of 1,905. It is an unincorporated community subject to a property owners association. 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 List of counties in West Virginia, county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 23,093. Its county seat is Romney, West Virginia, Romney, West Virginia's o ...

. Winchester is to the southeast via US 522, and

Berkeley Springs, West Virginia Berkeley Springs, formally named Bath, is a town in Morgan County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. The population was 758 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. In 1776, the Virginia Legislature incorporated a town arou ...

, 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 was the List of costliest Atlantic hurricanes, 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, ...

hit the

Mid-Atlantic states The Mid-Atlantic is a region of the United States located in the overlap between the nation's Northeastern and Southeastern states. Traditional definitions include seven U.S. states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virg ...

, dumping approximately of rain per hour, which caused the lake to fill in a matter of days.

Scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...

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 The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wor ...

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 died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...

. 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 : "related to the sea") 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 or cargo ...

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

Demographics

Lake Holiday was first listed as a

census designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), 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 counte ...

in the 2010 U.S. Census.

References

External links

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