Otsego Lake (New York)
Otsego Lake is a lake located in Otsego County in the U.S. state of New York. It is the source of the Susquehanna River and largest lake in Otsego County. The Village of Cooperstown is located at the lake's southern end. Glimmerglass State Park is located on the lake's northeastern shore, and includes Hyde Hall, a large mansion constructed in 1817, that overlooks the lake. The Glimmerglass Opera, opened in June 1987, is located on the western shore.
Between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago, glaciers of the Wisconsin glaciation filled the valley. Otsego Lake was formed when an ice tongue from a glacier carved out the Susquehanna River Valley. As the glaciers melted slowly, they filled in the valley they carved out. The lake takes its name from the Iroquois Indians, who inhabited the area around the lake in and before the 17th century. The name Otsego is from a Mohawk or Oneida word meaning "place of the rock", referring to the large boulder near the lake's outlet, today known as Council Rock.
The lake's role in the state and local economy has led to a concentrated effort to protect and manage it. In 1935, the New York State Conservation Department performed the first biological survey of Otsego Lake. In 1968, the State University of New York at Oneonta gained access to the lake, a location to build a field station and a biological research facility. At this time, the Otsego County Conservation Association was formed by a group of local landowners and sportsmen concerned about the water quality. SUNY Oneonta and OCCA collaborate on water quality improvement projects. The Otsego Lake Association, a not for profit group, makes sure that the Otsego Lake Watershed Management Plan is enforced. Today the lake is used recreationally and for sporting activities such as fishing.
Geography
Otsego Lake is long with a surface area of. Its average depth is, with a maximum depth of. The northern roughly of the lake is in the town of Springfield and the southern part in the town of Otsego, and bordered by the town of Middlefield on the eastern shore. The lake is the source of the Susquehanna River, which flows south through New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland before emptying into the Chesapeake Bay. The lake level is controlled by a dam that was built in 1905.Sunken islands
is a submerged sandy plot located near the western shore of Otsego Lake, approximately north from Cooperstown. It is the supposed remains of an island described in the writings of James Fenimore Cooper upon which a structure once stood. Today Sunken Island is several feet below the surface of the lake and is marked with four buoys to prevent boats from running aground. Another sunken island, Eel Island, is located approximately north of Cooperstown. It is much deeper than the other sunken island.Bays and points
There are many bays on Otsego Lake and four of them are named. One is Blackbird Bay, which located on the southwest end of the lake in the Village of Cooperstown. The next bay north of Blackbird Bay is Muskrat Cove, also known as Rat Cove. Waterlily Bay is a bay located on the west side of the lake about from the foot of the lake. Then on the northern end of the lake is Hyde Bay. Glimmerglass State Park is located in this bay. Hyde Bay is named after the Hyde family.There are many points on Otsego Lake and many of them are named. On the southwest part of the lake is Brookwood Point. About further north is Three Mile Point. About farther north is Five Mile Point. Mohican Brook enters the lake at Five Mile Point. Just north from Five Mile is Six Mile Point. Continuing further north about is Hutter Point.
On the east side of the lake just north of the outlet is Point Judith, is a projection into the east side of the lake. Point Judith is the location of the historic Kingfisher Tower. It was originally called Two Mile Point, but is now named after Judith Hutter from The Deerslayer. About further north is Point Florence. Roughly further north is Cherry Tree Point. About further north is Gravelly Point. Just north of Gravelly is Peggs Point. On the north end of the lake, west of Hyde Bay, is Clarke Point.
Adjacent mountains
One mountain near the lake is Mount Wellington, which is located on the north end of the lake, east of Hyde Bay. It is known as "The Sleeping Lion", as it looks similar to a lion laying down, viewed from Cooperstown, New York. It was named by George Hyde Clarke in honor of Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, who went to Eton College in England with Clarke. Red House Hill is located on the west side of the lake, west of Six Mile Point. Mount Ovis is located on the west side of the lake behind the Farmer's Museum. It was named around 1813, by James Fenimore Cooper's grandfather, who kept on it some of the first imported Merino sheep. Mount Vision is located on the east side of the lake by the south end. Mount Vision was named by Judge Cooper, and is the location where his father first saw the lake.History
Natural history
About 10,000 and 12,000 years ago, during the Wisconsin glaciation, a glacier slowly moved through and carved out a valley that Otsego Lake now sits in. As the glacier slowly melted, it filled in the valley that was carved out. The glacier exposed limestone in the lake's watershed, which now flows into the lake through the various tributaries. The limestone protects the lake from the damaging effects of acid rain.There are various features surrounding the lake that are evidence of the glacier. These include moraines, drumlins, hanging deltas, clays and sands. There is also evidence that shows a previously higher lake level had existed, known as "Lake Cooperstown". The Cassville-Cooperstown moraine follows the Oaks Creek valley, crosses the Susquehanna roughly south of the lake's outlet and appears again in Cherry Valley, which is the next valley to the east. Near where this moraine crosses the Susquehanna, it rises to an elevation of, except for a sharp cut that the Susquehanna River now flows through. The cut is the location of the "dam" that held Lake Cooperstown at an elevation of around. Large terrace remnants are present around this location.
Human history
Before European colonization, Iroquois Indians inhabited the area around the lake. The name Otsego is from a Mohawk or Oneida word meaning "place of the rock", referring to the large boulder near the lake's outlet, today known as "Council Rock". It is a large boulder whose top is above the water's surface and can be seen from shore. At low water, the oval rock rises approximately above the water, and is about long by wide. It is believed to have been a meeting place for Native Americans prior to the American Revolutionary War. A small parcel of land near Council Rock was presented to the Village of Cooperstown in 1957, on the condition that it remain open to the public as a park. The park, today known as Council Rock Park, also includes a set of concrete steps leading to a lake-level terrace that were built in 1937.Pieter Quackenboss, Jr, an early settler of the Mohawk Valley, dealt extensively with the natives and became known as "The Old Indian Trader." The following incident in his life is recorded in the 1848 book Women of the American Revolution:
Pieter Quackenboss was among the early settlers of the County, and did not escape the difficulties. He was a trader with the Indians, who placed great confidence in him, frequently consulting him. They were disposed to bestow on him some particular mark of regard, and after meeting for consultation, they decided on giving him the name " Otsego" and christening the lake for him. The ceremony of naming both him and the lake was performed by pouring liquor upon his head as he knelt on the ground, a portion being afterwards poured into the water. It is probable that few are acquainted with this origin of the name of Otsego Lake; but that family tradition has been confirmed by the recollection of some who witnessed the occurrence.
Early in 1779, General James Clinton and his soldiers began to haul 208 boats and all their supplies from the present day Villages of Fort Plain and Canajoharie, along the Mohawk River, towards Otsego Lake. By the end of June, they had made it to the lake and began to build a temporary dam at the outlet to raise the water level. The purpose of this was to break the dam and ride the flood water down the river to meet General John Sullivan at Tioga. This event is described by James Fenimore Cooper in the introduction to his popular novel The Pioneers, and commemorated by a Memorial Day canoe race.
In 1785, William Cooper settled at the south end of the lake and founded the settlement that is now known as Cooperstown. A few years after settling, there was a food shortage. Cooper stated:
A singular event deemed sent by a good Providence to our relief; it was reported to me that unusual shoals of fish were seen moving in the clear waters of the Susquehanna. l went, and was surprised to find that they were herrings. We made something like a small net, by the interweaving of twigs, and by this rude and simple contrivance we were able to take them in thousands. In less than two days each family had an ample supply.
Between 1817 and 1834, Hyde Hall was constructed at the north end of the lake. It is located within Glimmerglass State Park at the base of Mount Wellington. The building is a New York State Historic Site known as Hyde Hall State Historic Site. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1986. In 1825, Hyde Hall Bridge, a historic wooden covered bridge, was built on what was then Hyde Hall property. The bridge crosses the Shadow Brook tributary of the lake.
In 1858, the first commercial steamboat was put into operation on the lake, and by 1894, the number was up to ten. Two of them, the Natty Bumppo and the Cyclone, could hold more than 300 passengers per boat. At this time, commercial transportation on the lake was developed to fill in the gap between rail traffic entering from the Catskills into Cooperstown, to Richfield Springs where it accessed a railway that linked to a railway between Albany and Buffalo, and the Erie Canal. The last commercial steamboat went out of business in 1933.
In 1870, Elihu Phinney built a fish hatchery at Three Mile Point on the west side of the lake. Over the next few years thousands of fish were raised and released into the lake. In 1935, the New York State Conservation Department performed the first biological survey of the lake. In 1968, access to the lake and a location to build a field station and biological research facility were acquired by State University of New York at Oneonta. Also at this time, the Otsego County Conservation Association was formed by a group of local landowners and sportsmen concerned about the water quality. SUNY Oneonta and OCCA work closely together to plan and discuss water quality improvement projects. Glimmerglass State Park opened in the late 1960s.
In 1999, the Glimmerglass Historic District was formed, which includes the entire lake. The district covers parts of three towns, Otsego, Springfield, and Middlefield and also the village of Cooperstown. It includes 1,475 contributing features, including Hyde Hall in Glimmerglass State Park.