Lake Waccamaw

Infobox lake
align = right
lake_name = Lake Waccamaw
image_lake = Sunset Lake.jpg
caption_lake = Sunset from State Park
image_bathymetry =
caption_bathymetry =
location = Columbus County, North Carolina
coords = coord|34|17|16|N|78|30|31|W|region:US-NC_type:waterbody|display=inline,title
type =
inflow = Big Creek; First Little, Second Little and Third Little Creeks
outflow =
catchment =
basin_countries = United States
length =
width =
area = convert|8936|acre|ha
depth = convert|7.5|ft|m|abbr=on
max-depth =
volume =
residence_time =
shore =
elevation = convert|43|ft|m|abbr=on
islands =
cities = Lake Waccamaw

Lake Waccamaw is a unique fresh water lake located in Columbus County in North Carolina. The lake is oval in shape and measures roughly 5 miles by 7 miles with an average depth of 7.5 feet. It covers 36,170,802.5032 sq.m. and has an average width of 2.32 m and a shoreline of about 22,852.68 m. The marginal 70% of the lake bottom is composed of clear sand, whereas the central 30% is overlaid with a deposit of fibrous and pulpy peat. [http://www.fishbase.org] The lake is fed by four creeks: First, Second, Third, and Big Creeks. The lake outlet forms the Waccamaw River which flows southeasterly to empty into the Atlantic Ocean near Georgetown, South Carolina

It is the largest of the natural Carolina Bay Lakes (Bladen Lake Group) with a total surface area of 8,936 acres.The term "Bay" Lake stems from the abundance of bay trees (Magnolia virginiana L., Gordonia lasianthus Ellis, and Persea spp., Frey, 1949) growing in the numerous swampy oval depressions on the Carolina coastal plain. [http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/wacbay.html] The Lake has been estimated to be 15,000 -30,000 years old although older fossils have been found upon the shores and in 2008 a whale fossil was found in the lake [http://www.fishbase.org/search.php] . Scientists have removed the bones of a whale that they say may date back nearly 1 - 3 million years. Once restored, the skull of the whale will be on display at the forestry museum in Whiteville NC. [http://www.wect.com/Global/story.asp?S=8361089] .

The lake is fed mainly by Big Creek and the surrounding swamp lands. The organic matter from the decaying vegetation of the swamps makes the water tea-colored. The lake is full of life. It even contains some species of fish, such as the Waccamaw Silverside, that are native only to Lake Waccamaw. [http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20080521/ARTICLE/805210343/0/Business] .

Lake Waccamaw has a broad, flat bottom of gyttja (mud) and peat encircled by sandy shallows and submerged sandy terraces that extend up to 500 m offshore. A natural sand bar, which extends along the northwest shore between a fringing cypress swamp and the main lake, was supplemented with spoil dredged to form a neighboring canal in 1946 and developed with private residences. Big Creek delivers tea-colored water from the large cypress and swamp at the northeast corner of the lake, and the Waccamaw River emerges from the southern shore. A dam at the outlet built in 1926 [http://www.lakewaccamaw.com/history.asp] now regulates lake levels which used to fall by as much as a meter during dry spells occasionally exposing the sand terraces. The dam was renovated in 2008 to help restore control of the lake water levels.

Lake Waccamaw has 14 miles of shoreline and unlike most of the other Carolina Bay lakes it gets the majority of its water from the surrounding swamp instead of direct rain water. A limestone bluff along the north shore filters the water and reduces the acidity levels making the lake ideal for a wide range of aquatic life. [http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/wacbay.html] .

A place to be respected

On hot summer days,in the afternoon a line of dark blue extending all the way across the lake may be seen advancing. The wave rolls across the lake, finally breaking upon the northern shore as a slapping first wave. The wind pushing the waves reaches land and envelopes the town of Lake Waccamaw in a constant and sometimes heavy breeze. It ordinarily continues throughout the afternoon and the night, dying down in the early morning hours of the next day. It is said that this breeze from the south will not fail more than four or five days in the course of a season. [http://www.lakewaccamaw.com/history.asp]

About the same time of day you usually expect the slow push of wind to come along, a string a dark clouds can appear from seemingly nowhere. Soon and without warning the lake can become as rough as any good boat can handle and many a small fishing boat cannot. Because it is so calm and inviting many enter its waters without proper safety gear. A wise and experienced Lake Waccamaw visitor always keeps one eye on the horizon and a life jacket, for each person aboard, nearby. [http://www.lakewaccamaw.com/history.asp]

History

Some believe Lake Waccamaw belongs to the Bladen Lake group, which may have been formed by meteorites. Dredges have brought up old charred tree stumps, and they support a theory that the lake is the basin left by a prehistoric peat fire. Lake Waccamaw has a dam that serves to keep the Lake from shrinking in dry weather. The Waccamaw dam was built in 1926 by the State of North Carolina.

Lake Waccamaw has several feeders, called First Little, Second Little and Third Little Creeks and then Big Creek as well as water from the Friar swamp. Underground springs feed the creeks.

Before the arrival of European settlers to Lake Waccamaw, it was inhabited by Native Americans. A place still called Indian Mounds is on the east shore and, on the site of one mound, it is said nothing will grow on it.

King Charles the Second originally granted this land to one of the Lord Proprietors who made individual grants to those willing to settle in this part of the new world. These large grants were divided among heirs and new settlers. By the mid - 1700s, few of the early settlers or their descendants were left around the lake area. They were replaced by people such as John Powell, who brought cattle from Virginia to settle his grant of land.

There is a quote attributed to John Bartram stating "This is the pleasantist place that I have ever seen". There is however no evidence of this quote in his writings. The origin of the quote is perhaps explained by The News Reporter which states that "N.C. State University researcher John A. McGeachy seems to have found it in his paper “Travel on the Cape Fear River in the Colonial Period. A group of at least 14 men traveled the area with Nathaniel Moore in 1733. The publication from that trip was called “A New Voyage to Georgia.” From old Brunswick they traveled 40 miles up the Cape Fear River to Moore’s place, then to Lake Waccamaw, described by an unnamed author as “the pleasantest place that ever I saw in my life.”

John Powell's son, Absalom after the American Revolutionary War, started buying large areas of land. A North Carolina Historical Marker was placed near his grave on August 22 1933 at Lake Waccamaw. John Powell's son, Isaac, of Lake Waccamaw was appointed first major for Bladen County militia in 1804 and a Justice of the Peace in 1806. He was the largest landowner of his day in Columbus County, owning over 10,000 acres (40 km²) - most of his land in the area of Lake Waccamaw.

More on Lake Waccamaw theories and history can be found at Waccamaw Siouan

Recent Environmental Events

The lack of rain in the eastern portion of North Carolina during 2007 affected the water level in Lake Waccamaw. Water levels dropped greater than 15 inches below normal as of late 2007. The record low is 19.5 inches recorded in 1993. The record high was 37 inches above normal in 1999. In 2008 some additional rain and swamp drainage has increased the water levels.

Aquatic Life in Lake Waccamaw

Several endemic species are found only in or around the lake and nowhere else, including the Waccamaw darter, silverside and killifish. The water also contains a diversity of unusual mollusks. The endemic Waccamaw spike and Waccamaw fatmucket are among 15 species of mussels and clams in the lake. And, of the 11 snail species, the Waccamaw amnicola and siltsnail are also one-of-a-kind species.

According to the website http://www.fishbase.org the following is a list of the fish species found in the lake.

Fish Species in Lake Waccamaw: No. of Species listed in Fishbase.org=37

Species, Family, Habitat, Length (cm), Trophic, Acantharchus pomotis Centrarchidae demersal 21 TL 3.0 nativeAmeiurus catus Ictaluridae demersal 95 TL 3.8 nativeAmeiurus natalis Ictaluridae demersal 47 TL 3.3 nativeAmeiurus platycephalus Ictaluridae demersal 29 TL 3.4 nativeAmia calva Amiidae demersal 109 TL 3.8 nativeAnguilla rostrata Anguillidae demersal 152 TL 3.7 nativeAphredoderus sayanus Aphredoderidae demersal 14 TL 3.4 nativeCentrarchus macropterus Centrarchidae demersal 30 TL 3.7 nativeCyprinus carpio carpio Cyprinidae benthopelagic 147 TL 3.0 nativeDorosoma cepedianum Clupeidae pelagic 64 TL 2.0 nativeElassoma zonatum Elassomatidae demersal 5 TL 3.0 nativeEnneacanthus gloriosus Centrarchidae demersal 10 TL 3.0 nativeEnneacanthus obesus Centrarchidae demersal 10 TL 3.0 nativeErimyzon oblongus Catostomidae demersal 36 TL 2.8 nativeErimyzon sucetta Catostomidae demersal 41 TL 2.8 nativeEsox americanus Americanus demersal 44 TL 3.4 native Esox niger Esocidae demersal 99 TL 4.0 nativeEtheostoma fusiforme Percidae benthopelagic 6 TL 3.2 nativeEtheostoma perlongum Percidae benthopelagic 9 TL 3.4 endemicFundulus waccamensis Fundulidae benthopelagic 10 TL 3.0 endemicGambusia affinis Poeciliidae benthopelagic 7 TL 3.2 nativeLepisosteus osseus Lepisosteidae demersal 200 TL 4.2 nativeLepomis auritus Centrarchidae demersal 31 TL 3.1 nativeLepomis gibbosus Centrarchidae benthopelagic 40 TL 3.1 nativeLepomis gulosus Centrarchidae demersal 31 TL 3.7 nativeLepomis macrochirus Centrarchidae benthopelagic 41 TL 3.3 nativeLepomis punctatus Centrarchidae demersal 20 TL 3.0 nativeMenidia extensa Atherinidae pelagic 8 TL 3.2 endemicMicropterus salmoides Centrarchidae benthopelagic 97 TL 3.8 nativeMorone americana Moronidae demersal 50 TL 3.0 nativeNotemigonus crysoleucas Cyprinidae demersal 30 TL 3.0 nativeNotropis chalybaeus Cyprinidae benthopelagic 7 TL 3.0 nativeNotropis petersoni Cyprinidae benthopelagic 9 TL 3.0 nativeNoturus gyrinus Ictaluridae demersal 13 TL 3.2 nativePerca flavescens Percidae benthopelagic 50 TL 3.7 nativePomoxis nigromaculatus Centrarchidae benthopelagic 49 TL 4.2 nativeUmbra pygmaea Umbridae demersal 15 TL 3.6 native

Legend of Lake Waccamaw

There are many theories regarding the formation of Lake Waccamaw. This one is recorded in the book Recollections and Records. In the book the lakes origin is described in terms of a romantic myth. According to local tradition, the large and beautiful lake was at once a mound of flowers. The keeper of this beautiful garden was an American Indian princess who was know to all as the most beautiful princess in all the world. Each spring it became the custom for the chiefs of all tribes to send their sons to the camp of the Princess. There they were received from her hands a blessing and a wild rose that would bring them good luck. As the tale goes a young brave who had seen the princess asked her to become his wife. She replied that she had promised never to marry so that she could stay in the garden, teach, and send all of the tribes her blessings. The brave became very angry and swore that he would destroy the mound of flowers. His tribes invaded and overcame the Waccamaw braves and their chiefs. The princess knelt and asked to die in the garden. She requested that the mound of flowers be changed into a beautiful lake that man could not destroy. She asked too, that the lake would never become dry and that the waters should always be pure and crystal.

cientific Theories of Formation

Scientifically Lake Waccamaw is widely believed to be one of the Carolina Bay lakes. The formation of these lakes is described in detail at Carolina Bay

Interesting Facts

The Lake Waccamaw Depot museum, housed in a 1904 Atlantic Coastline Railroad Depot, is on the National Register of Historic Places. Exhibits include a 300-year-old Indian canoe and marine fossils recovered from the lake, natural history specimens, Waccamaw Siouan Indian artifacts, early European settler artifacts, railroad including a caboose, infornamtion on local industries including turpentine, cypress shingles, logging, and tool manufacturing, along with many old photographs. The hours are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 10 AM to 3 PM and Sundays from 1 to 3 PM. Admission is free. The museum is handicapped accessible.

External links

* [http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/wacbay.html Lake Waccamaw informational website]
* [http://slowlysheturned.blogspot.com/2005/06/lake-waccamaw.html Photos Of Lake Waccamaw]
* [http://www.lwumc.org/lwumc.htm Lake Wacccamaw UMC]
* [http://www.discovercolumbuscounty.org/thingstodo_see.html Columbus County Information]
* [http://149.168.1.195/photos/gallery.php?parkX=lawa Official Lake Photo Site]

Bibliography