Lake Winni Fun Fact

[fatlazyless]

Well, as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, and a map is very similar to a picture, so that makes a map an excellent source of information.

My basis for what I said was a vague recollection from a few years back found on a google search on the Lakeport Dam.....just off the top of my head as I was running late and heading out the door.....so definately some more dam research is needed here to investigate this hypothicized 18' height increase made by the 1822 building of the dam. Thankyou in advance Rattlesnake Gal.

[nvtngtxpyr]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

My basis for what I said was a vague recollection from a few years back found on a google search on the Lakeport Dam.....just off the top of my head as I was running late and heading out the door.....

And that's why you should check your facts before posting. Unfortunately many people believe what they read on the Internet.

[fatlazyless]

Now, just hold on there a minute, because I still accurately claim that the Lakeport Dam, built in 1822, raised the water level by 18 feet.

This dam construction is the origin of Lake Winnipesaukee as it has existed from 1822 till today. When I say 1822, let me readjust that just a little to include the time period from 1822 till about 1827 as the time when the dam was built up to a height similar to its' existing size today.

The dam changed everything on the lake. It changed it from a group of about 7 - 8 smaller lakes into one large lake, and I can back this up with some good reference research, but not right now. I got to get going and haven't got the time right now.........so.....later....alligator!

[Bizer]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

Now, just hold on there a minute, because I still accurately claim that the Lakeport Dam, built in 1822, raised the water level by 18 feet.

While possible, that seems unlikely. It may have raised the level of Paugus Bay by 18 feet, but not the entire lake. The Weirs channel (which extends from Weirs Beach to Naswa) is about four feet deep. Hence, the main part of the lake could only drop by four feet at most. At that level (and lower) there is no way for water to exit the lake.

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

Lake Winnipesaukee contains about 75-billion gallons of very fresh water ...

It contains a lot more than that. With 72 square miles of surface area, there are 75 billion gallons of water in the top five feet alone.

[SIKSUKR]

Originally Posted by Bizer

While possible, that seems unlikely. It may have raised the level of Paugus Bay by 18 feet, but not the entire lake. The Weirs channel (which extends from Weirs Beach to Naswa) is about four feet deep. Hence, the main part of the lake could only drop by four feet at most. At that level (and lower) there is no way for water to exit the lake.

Agreed and I believe that the channel was dredged also.

[jrc]

I think we should remember that without a dam the level of the lake was far from the stable values we have today. Today the lake varies less than 2 feet over the year. Without a dam the level would vary much more.

Maybe during dry years or at the end of summer, the channel between the main lake and Paugus bay got very shallow. We've all seen the drawings of Indians trapping fish there in the original wiers. As the lake water dropped below the bottom of the channel the lake had no exit, so it would fill until the level rose. There maybe other areas with similar natural dams.

I doubt very much the average lake level was 18 feet lower in 1822, there is too much contrary eveidence, and FLL never backs his "facts". But I could believe that the water varied 18 feet in those years, between spring flooding and a very dry fall.

I have no facts just my guesses.

[Seeker]

I believe FLL always has his dam facts correct and we should all take his words as gospel.

[NoBozo]

If we had had the environmentalist whackos we have today..back in 1822, the lake would be just a few "Duck Puddles" now. Just sayin NB

[trfour]

Credit Wikipedia...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Winnipesaukee



Terry
__________________________________________

[fatlazyless]

From memory, I recall the winni divers guy saying that the old shoreline is visable underwater and is eighteen feet down below. So, it's right there, down there, 18' down below, etched into the underwater terrain, for all to see. Suggest you take a deep breath and go jump in the lake tomorrow to investigate.....ha ha....only kidding.....will check it out myself and report back with some prima facia evidence on b&w film and post it here!!

www.lakeportnh.org

www.weirsbeach.com/topten/reason9frame.html

www.winnipesaukee.co/forums/showthread.php?t=931

Ok...listen up....tomorrow at 9-am, there will be a 100-question pop quiz on these three Lakeport Dam related websites. Any results lower than an 80 get you flunked plus you'll have to go find the same number as your flunking grade in cigarette butts from off of the beach at Weirs Beach! That means.....receive a 78....you need to produce 78 grubby cigarette butts.....understand!

[SIKSUKR]

In that case I'm going to answer every question wrong and score a zero. I think you have this test reward backward as well.

[SIKSUKR]

Here's what I dug up on Google from our own R-Girl on this very forum. The relevant part is highlighted in red. Sounds right to me based on the Weirs channel depth now. In fact, if you read the link http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/...read.php?t=931 to the thread I got this from, McDude supplies a document that claims the lake was in fact 35 feet higher at some point. Good stuff to digest. Thanks RG and McDude.

History of the Lake Size

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The topic of our lake having been nine separate bodies of water at one time was intriguing, but baffling. Here is what the Lake Winnipesaukee Historical Society reports on the subject.

LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE
In The Beginning...

Since the orbit and speeds of the earth were stabilized over four billion years ago, an extremely complex series of surface changes has occurred that are still taking place. Between various times and stages of relatively peaceful existence, like our present, cataclysmic events have upset
our land: monsterous earthquakes beyond conception, mountain and canyon forming upheavals in never to be recorded numbers, receding oceans and seas giving place to miles of depth of erosives and lava and ashes only to be replaced by other bodies of water, vast areas of volcanic action time and time again, Sahara-like deserts and post-glacial silt and sand barrens with storms beyond comprehension, and recently - several glacial periods; all of these and many more.

The landscape as we see it today is primarily as it was prior to the start of the last glacial period of about 50,000 years ago, plus the eskers, drumlins, boulder trains, cirques, kames, varves and other glacial remains. Few rocks that we can easily study are older than 350 millions of years (from the Cambrian and Ordovician parts of the Paleozoic Era). Some may be of Silurian date, since the oldest; but most have evolved from the igneous, metamorphosed, and sedimentary rocks during and since the Devonian time. Since the end of the Wisconsin Glacial Stage (nearly 14,000 years ago) in our present Cenozoic Era, topographic chn have been few and barely noticeable.

Here in our region there are no fossils (these are limited to the Littleton area), but many other geologic features are of interest: the meltwater channel which is Valley Street (Lakeport), the boulder trains from Red Hill socialite-nepheline-syenite and Ossipee Mts. Moat-volcanics and Conway-granite (reaching into the Atlantic), the world's most famous ring-dike formation of the Ossipee Mts., Rattlesnake Is. which is geologically part of the Belknap Mts., the huge water-shed boulder in the CoppleCrown Mts., the volcanic-vent on Mt. Belknap, and others. Your favorite library, rock-shop, or the N. H. Development Comm. will gladly help you with locations; but some of the books have misinterpreted the facts.

For the rock collector, mines and minerals in this region are limited to the iron deposit on Gunstock Mt., the sulphide prospects (gold, lead, zinc, etc.) off the Parade Rd., the quartz crystals on Ladd Hill (with a most magnificent view), the garnet sand of Paugus and Saunders Bays, the amethyst, sand of Long Is., Conwaygranite pockets in the Belknaps, the clay and quartz at the foot of Brickyard Mt., fluorescent socialite of Red Hill, crystals of the Ossipees, and very few others.

FORMATION OF WINNIPESAUKEE

Surficial and Bedrock Geology studies of New Hampshire indicate that prior to the Ice Age there was no lake here as we know it today. The quartz diorite (the primary rock of the Winnipesaukee basin) was decomposed in place before and during the glacial period, and the power of
the ice toward the end of the Pleistocene Epoch gouged out the loosened rock leaving hundreds of hills which are our picturesque islands in a hauntingly enticing water-world.

Geologists point out that the water level of this lake has remained about the same as today. Studies of the hillsides, streams, meltwater channels; intervales, and varved deposits preclude the possibility of any glacial dams or deep waters such as Lake Hitchcock that once filled the present Connecticut R. valley. The conclusion is that the Winnipesaukee River of 1969 is very nearly the same drainage channel that the lake has always had.

THE LAKE

This "Beautiful Water of the High Place" has always been held in very high esteem since primitive man first came to its scenic shores. Known as Winnipisseoke, or Winnipiseogee Pond, and dozens of others very similar, the present Winnipesaukee name was made official by the New Hampshire legislature of 1933.

With 183 miles of shoreline, an area of 71.8 square miles (45,952 acres), dimensions at 91/2 miles wide by 21 miles long, an altitude of 504 feet, and a flotilla of islands often estimated at 365, our Lake ranks very high among the world's inland waters. It is the largest of nearly 1311 ponds and lakes in 9,302 square mile New Hampshire. The depth of 169 feet of water lies beneath your boat South-East of Rattlesnake Island, with most of the Lake resting between 20 and 100 feet deep. The elevation is changed by the annual Spring runoff and by an occasional drought (in 1941 the lake contained approximately 14,600,000,000 less cubic feet of water than normal, and in 1826 it may have been even lower). Before man dammed the falls at Lakeport over a 150 years ago, the level was more than three to five feet below the present. Prior to 1832 the Weirs channel was ' a shallow way, and a short "river", before the advent of down stream damming,. of about a three foot drop over a possible width of 150 feet, until the 1803 bridge was built.

Lake Winnipesaukee was marked in 1899 with the first inland waterway bouts in the United States, over 300 hazards being indicated, with the present number of markers, .light-bouys, and other navigation aids about 600.

Over 60 streams run into the Lake, from small hillside brooks to the short Hill River system in the North and the narrow Merrymeeting River of the South.. Several dozen small lakes and ponds drain into Winnipesaukee. It may never be known how such a large and wholesome lake can maintain itself from such a confined watershed.

In 1811 a charter was granted for a canal from Alton Bay to the Sea by way of Merrymeeting, Cocheco, and Piscataqua rivers. Though the Little Pequakit Canal Co. came into being in 1819, no work was done on a proposed project that was intended to eventually extend from the Atlantic Ocean through our Lake, to Squam Lake, and the Connecticut River, and on to Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence.
Full article from Lake Winnipesaukee Historical Society

[Grant]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

From memory, I recall the winni divers guy saying that the old shoreline is visable underwater and is eighteen feet down below. So, it's right there, down there, 18' down below, etched into the underwater terrain, for all to see. ...

There are certainly many more divers with more bottom time in Winnipesaukee than me, but I've logged a good number of dives in the Lake over the years, across all areas of the Lake, and have never seen a definitive "old" shoreline at 15-20 feet. And I've looked...for a while. The three- to five-foot level increase sounds more plausible, and also would explain absence of a visible previous shoreline. After all, any shoreline features in that range would probably be erased over time due to wave action, freezing, etc.

[fatlazyless]

I expect to be in Laconia tomorrow, and will go knock on the door of the dam keeper, Bob Fay, (any relation to widely known Merrill Fay of Fay's Boatyard) and ask him if he has any historical-educational info on this subject. Who knows, maybe the Lakeport Dam gets to hold visits from NH junior high school science classes and the dam is equipped with a dam information sheet. Isn't the Lakeport Dam run and administered by the New Hampshire Dept of Environmental Services so it seems plausible they could have an informational pamphlet for educational purposes.

If I get the chance, I'll ask him: How high is the water level behind the dam? What's his guess as to the increase in water height the dam adds to the lake there in Paugus Bay, and in the larger waters above the Weirs channel? Does he ever get bored and fall asleep while sitting around all day, and watching the water pour over the dam? ....just kidding about that one....let's see....what else can I ask that is at least a little bit intelligent.....how about inquiring about a history of the different dams at this location over the last 350-years.....and has the City of Laconia's Assessing Dept placed a monetary value on the dam....even though it most likely pays no property taxes to Laconia as it belongs to the State of New Hampshire? Dam straight on that last item, ayuh!

[Rattlesnake Gal]

1766 The areas first sawmill was built at The Weirs, (not at Lakeport) followed by a corn mill and brickyard.
There was not enough drop at the channel, so the mills fell to disrepair even before any dam existed at Lake Village.

1766 Abraham Folsom built his homestead in the Elm Street area of Lakeport.

1780 The town of Gilmanton voted to sell a couple of their lots to him to encourage his business operations.

1781 Folsom built a dam across the river at what is now called Lakeport to power his first grist mill, later adding a sawmill.

1788 Both of Folsom's mills burned, but future sawmills functioned here until 1861. Gristmills until destroyed by fire in 1903.

1818 Gilford sold the mill privilege on the Gilford side of river to Johnathan Nelson - instructing him to leave passage for fish.

1825 Nathan Batchelder acquired Folsom's farm and mill operations, effectively purchasing the right to control the level of the lake.

1826 Batchelder, in association with Stephen Lyford, a lawyer, built a new loose boulder and rubble dam about 16.5' below the Folsom dam, that can still be seen just above the bridge. Arrangements for a stone canal were also made to allow for navigation.

1833 Nathan Batchelder sells his interests to Governor's Island residents, Nathaniel Davis and David Pingree, who were acting as agents for Winnepissiogee Lake Cotton and Woolen Manufacturing Company. This company was not in New Hampshire to to manufacture wool or cotton. The stock in this company was all held by Essex Company of Lawrence and the Locks and Canal Company of Lowell, Massachusetts. Their intent was to control the level of Lake Winnipesaukee for the benefit of factories downstream and out of state. The excessive logging along the Pemigewasset watershed caused this tributary of the Merrimack River to run almost dry in the summer, which turned Lake Winnipesaukee into the only feasible solution.

1851 the "Lake Company" erected a more extensive stone dam to increase the reservoir capacity of the lake, enabling the company to draw it down to provide extra power when the Massachusetts mills demanded it. The top of this dam was only slightly higher than Batchedler's, but it was built tighter and was considerably more effective. The lake level rose significantly, completely altering the huge lake, by flooding a vast amount of shoreline.

Anticipating that the waterfront owners would not appreciate such manipulation of the lake, the company attempted to buy as much frontage as possible. The farmers that owned lake-shore property were especially furious with being flooded and brought lawsuits against the company. This eventually forced the "Lake Company" to give up and sell most of its Lakes Region holding. The state later established the Water Resources Board and assumed responsibility for the control of the water level of Lake Winnipesaukee on behalf of the public.

The Witches once an island proper until the raising of the waters because of the dam. (Purchased in 1830 by the "Lake Company".)

1912 Someone discovered that a map made by a civil engineer for Fullerton Wells' Island Company included many islands that had not existed since the dam had been built in 1851.


From the McDude Gallery



Sources of information:

The Gunstock Parish by Adair Mulligan
Lake Winnipesaukee by Bruce Heald

Weirs Beach historic information and dam pictures. (Scroll down.)
(They seem to be mistaken on this website on the 1766 date of the Lakeport dam.)

[Rattlesnake Gal]

Originally Posted by Rattlesnake Gal

1826 Batchelder, in association with Stephen Lyford, a lawyer, built a new loose boulder and rubble dam about 16.5' below the Folsom dam, that can still be seen just above the bridge.

I wonder if the wording above, referenced from The Gunstock Parish, is incorrect by stating it can be seen just above the bridge?
Perhaps it should have read below or from the bridge?


Lakeport Dam


Below the Lakeport Dam


Or is this to what they refer?
Above the Lakeport Dam

[Misty Blue]

I once heard that the old horse boats and barges used to be beached up in the top of Braun Bay late in the year. The Lake level then went down and they spent the winter there, ice free.

There is some small wreckage by the no rafting zone which I found as a kid. For the life of me it looks(ed) like the side cabins of a horse barge. Maybe it's just a couple of bob houses or out houses. 'Don't know.

It's a fun swim. About eight feet of H2O. In a line between the little cove at the top of the bay and the little cottage on the point on the east side of the cove. About 300 feet from the east shore.

Misty Blue