Ohio lakes
The history of 33 Ohio lakes and reservoirs: the valleys, towns and farms under the water, who built each dam and why, and the stories since, with a source on every fact.
All lakes (33)
- Acton LakePreble, Butler counties · built 1956 · 569 acresActon Lake's 1956 dam flooded Four Mile Creek farmland, but the 200-acre woods around it survived five generations of one family before Ohio bought it in 1941.
- Alum Creek LakeDelaware County · built 1974 · 3387 acresBuilt 1970-1974 by the Army Corps, Alum Creek Lake drowned three subdivisions, the village of Cheshire and the Underground Railroad settlement of Africa, Ohio.
- Atwood LakeCarroll, Tuscarawas counties · built 1936 · 1540 acresAtwood Lake is a 1,540-acre reservoir the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District finished in 1936, flooding the unplatted village of Atwood on Indian Fork.
- Berlin LakeMahoning, Portage, Stark counties · built 1943 · 3,590 acresBerlin Lake's dam, finished in 1943 after the 1913 Mahoning flood, holds 3,590 acres and still supplies Alliance's drinking water.
- Buckeye LakeFairfield, Licking, Perry counties · built 1832 · 2,800 acresOhio flooded a swamp in 1828 to feed a canal; by the 1940s Buckeye Lake drew 50,000 visitors a day, then nearly lost its dam to 370 houses built on it.
- Burr Oak LakeAthens, Morgan, Perry counties · built 1950 · 664 acresTom Jenkins Dam closed Sunday Creek's East Branch in 1950, flooding a valley emptied by coal-town busts, and gave Glouster its water until 2011.
- C.J. Brown ReservoirClark County · built 1973 · 2120 acresC.J. Brown Reservoir was built on Buck Creek near Springfield 1966-1974, displaced 41 households, and has carried an unresolved federal dam-safety flag since 2015.
- Caesar Creek LakeWarren, Clinton, Greene counties · built 1978 · 2830 acresCaesar Creek Lake, built 1971-78 by the Corps of Engineers, drowned the village of New Burlington under a 2,830-acre pool.
- Charles Mill LakeAshland, Richland counties · built 1936 · 1,350 acresBuilt 1935-1936 on the Black Fork near Mifflin, Charles Mill Lake drowned an 1825 mill site and, in 1973, hosted one of America's most-cited multi-witness UFO sightings.
- Clendening LakeHarrison County · built 1936 · 1800 acresBuilt 1935-36 in Harrison County, 1,800-acre Clendening Lake is kept by policy as the largest undeveloped lake in Ohio.
- Cowan LakeClinton County · built 1947 · 670 acresODNR built Cowan Lake as a recreation-only reservoir in the late 1940s; the 670-acre lake now faces a 2026-2028 closure for dam and spillway repairs.
- Deer Creek LakePickaway, Fayette, Madison counties · built 1968 · 1,277 acresBuilt 1965-1968 by the Army Corps on Deer Creek near Williamsport, Ohio, Deer Creek Lake covers 1,277 acres and hides a cabin tied to the Teapot Dome scandal.
- Delaware LakeDelaware, Marion, Morrow counties · built 1951 · 1,300 acresA 1947-1951 Army Corps dam on the Olentangy that displaced about 200 Troy Township families, moved a church and its cemetery, and now covers roughly 1,300 acres.
- Dillon LakeMuskingum County · built 1960 · 1,560 acresDillon Dam closed the Licking River near Zanesville in 1959-60, taking a covered bridge, 8 cemeteries and the fading river village of Dillon along the way.
- East Fork LakeClermont County · built 1978 · 2160 acresEast Fork Lake (William H. Harsha Lake) flooded a 17-mile valley in Clermont County when its dam was finished in the 1970s, taking the towns of Bantam and Elk Lick.
- Grand Lake St. MarysMercer, Auglaize counties · built 1845 · 13,500 acresDug by hand 1837-45, Grand Lake St. Marys survived a dike-cutting riot, an 1891 offshore oil boom and a 2010 algae crisis.
- Hoover ReservoirDelaware, Franklin counties · built 1955 · 2884 acresColumbus built Hoover Dam in 1953-56 after a drought, moving 690 graves and drowning a third of Galena and a stretch of old Route 3.
- Indian LakeLogan County · built 1860 · 5,104 acresBuilt 1851-60 over a ceded Shawnee and Seneca reservation, Indian Lake had a famous dance hall and saw National Guard riot duty.
- Lake LoramieShelby, Auglaize counties · built 1844 · 629 acresBuilt 1844-45 as a Miami & Erie Canal feeder, Lake Loramie floods the site of an 18th-century trading post and fort that once marked the Treaty of Greenville line.
- Lake MiltonMahoning County · built 1916 · 1,780 acresYoungstown built Lake Milton in the 1910s for its steel mills, drowning Fredericksburg; the lake was drained from 1986 to 1988.
- Leesville LakeCarroll County · built 1936 · 1,000 acresBuilt on McGuire Creek in Carroll County in 1936, Leesville Lake supplies Ohio's statewide muskellunge stocking eggs and drew 328,865 visitors in 1974 alone.
- Michael J. Kirwan ReservoirPortage County · built 1966 · 2,650 acresWest Branch Reservoir began filling in 1966 on the Mahoning's West Branch and was renamed for Congressman Michael J. Kirwan in 1970.
- Mosquito Creek LakeTrumbull County · built 1944 · 7,850 acresBuilt in 1944 by the Army Corps in 90 days, Mosquito Creek Lake flooded farms in three Trumbull County townships and moved a cemetery.
- O'Shaughnessy ReservoirDelaware County · built 1925 · 950 acresBuilt 1922-25 on the Scioto north of Columbus, O'Shaughnessy Dam was named for a ditchdigger turned superintendent before it stood.
- Paint Creek LakeRoss, Highland counties · built 1974 · 1,190 acresPaint Creek Dam, finished in 1974 near Bainbridge, flooded 10,200 acres, displaced an estimated 350 people and buried the traces of an early mill called Rapids Forge.
- Piedmont LakeBelmont, Harrison, Guernsey counties · built 1937 · 2,310 acresPiedmont Lake, finished May 1937 on Stillwater Creek, was nearly dropped by land speculators, then delivered Ohio's record 55-pound muskie in 1972.
- Pleasant Hill LakeAshland, Richland counties · built 1937 · 850 acresFinished in 1937 on the Clear Fork near Perrysville, Pleasant Hill Lake drowned Newville, birthplace of an Illinois governor.
- Portage LakesSummit County · built 1840 · 2,034 acresRaised 1827-1840 to feed the Ohio & Erie Canal's summit level, this Summit County chain of six dammed lakes survived a 1913 dam failure and became a state park in 1949.
- Pymatuning LakeAshtabula County · built 1934 · 17,088 acresPymatuning's 1934 dam turned a 158-square-mile Pennsylvania swamp into a 17,088-acre lake; Ohio holds its western quarter at Andover's Pymatuning State Park.
- Rocky Fork LakeHighland County · built 1953 · 2,080 acresBuilt by Ohio 1949-1953 for recreation, not flood control, Rocky Fork Lake near Hillsboro flooded farmland but spared the mill where Sen. Joseph Foraker grew up.
- Salt Fork LakeGuernsey County · built 1967 · 2,952 acresOhio's largest state park was a 1956 water-supply plan before a 1967 dam made a 2,952-acre lake, a stone farmhouse survived, and Bigfoot moved in.
- Seneca LakeGuernsey, Noble counties · built 1937 · 3,550 acresOhio's largest MWCD lake, built by the Army Corps on Seneca Fork of Wills Creek, closed 1936, filled by 1937 - 3,550 acres, a fish hatchery and Underground Railroad ties.
- Tappan LakeHarrison County · built 1936 · 2350 acresBuilt 1935-36 by the Army Corps on Little Stillwater Creek, Tappan Lake drowned the villages of Tappan and Laceyville and now covers 2,350 acres.