Our Favorite Lake, Greers Ferry Lake

Our lake, the lake we boat on, the lake we fish on, the lake we play on, Greers Ferry Lake. We all know where it is, but do you know where it came from? The formation of our lake, Greers Ferry Lake, was started in March of 1959 when they started to construct the Greers Ferry Dam. 

While the dam was being constructed, it brought tons of people to the area looking for work. They would pop they tents, plant their camper, and rent any vacant houses. Builders were rushing to complete houses so that all the people coming into Herber Springs would have a place to stay. The retail stores, grocery shops, and farmers all were struggling to meet the demand of the now larger population. The locals of Herber Springs hung on until the completion of the dam in December of 1962. Once completed, the influx of people left, moving on looking for the next job.

There is a lot of great history with our lake, one of my favorite pieces, the city of Higden. Higden was actually located under our lake. That’s right; in the 1800’s Higden was a city of farmers who were constantly troubled with flooding. The land was purchased, the cemeteries were moved, the people left, and the now abandoned city was allowed to flood. Don’t feel so bad for the people of Higden; they reestablished their city up on a nearby hill.

The really fun part about this story of a flooded city; it is said that there are still houses, building, and roads under the lake from the abandoned city. They say that you can follow a road right up to the shore line on one side of the lake and pick the same road back up on the other side. People have taken advantage of this and now are using the pre-existing roads as boat launching ramps. Old West Main St. is an example. What have you seen under the water?

Greers Ferry Lake is made up of two lakes connected by a water filled gorge called The Narrows. With a surface area of 63 square miles, and just over 340 miles of shoreline, there is plenty of fun to be had on the lake. It is often ranked in the top ten cleanest, clearest, and most pristine lakes in all of North America. So what are you waiting for, let’s go boating, or fishing, or swimming, or…