Geneva Lake | |
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Location | Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States |
Coordinates | 42°33′54.04″N88°30′13.50″W / 42.5650111°N 88.5037500°W [1] |
Primary outflows | White River |
Basin countries | United States |
Max. length | 12 km (7.7 mi) |
Max. width | 3.2 km (2 mi) |
Surface area | 5,401 acres (2,186 ha; 8.439 sq mi; 21.86 km2) |
Average depth | 61 feet (19 m) |
Max. depth | 135 feet (41 m) |
Settlements | Lake Geneva, Fontana-on-Geneva-Lake, Williams Bay |
Geneva Lake (Potawatomi: Kishwauketoe 'Clear Water') [2] is a body of freshwater in Walworth County in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. [3] On its shores are the city of Lake Geneva and the villages of Fontana-on-Geneva-Lake and Williams Bay. The lake covers an area of approximately 5,401 acres (2,186 ha ; 8.439 sq mi ; 21.86 km2 ), [3] with a maximum length of 7.7 miles (12.4 km), [3] a mean depth of 61 feet (19 m), [3] and a maximum depth of 135 feet (41 m). [3] Geologists believe that it is a filled-in kettle formed from a receding glacier.[ citation needed ]
Geneva Lake was home to a band of Prairie Potawatomi prior to colonial settlement. During the first three decades of the nineteenth century, the band was led by Big Foot.[ citation needed ] This led the settlers on Geneva Lake to refer to it as Big Foot Lake. [4]
In the 1830s, a government surveyor named John Brink renamed the lake and the town on it for Geneva, New York, another lakeside town which he thought they resembled. [5] To avoid confusion with the nearby town of Geneva, Illinois, the city was renamed Lake Geneva; later,[ when? ] the lake was renamed Geneva Lake.[ citation needed ]
The lake is known as the only place in the world where mail jumping is practiced, an unusual mail delivery system maintained as a local tradition.
Lakeshore attractions include Big Foot Beach State Park, Lake Geneva Yacht Club, the George Williams College campus of Aurora University, and Yerkes Observatory. The observatory is no longer owned by the University of Chicago, which transferred ownership of it to the non-profit Yerkes Future Foundation in May 2020. [6]
Public access to the lake is allowed as the result of a decision by early European settlers that "20 feet [6 meters] of land leading up to the shoreline should be public domain." [7] [8] [9]
A shorepath, which is open to the public, completely surrounds the lake. [7] [8] [9] Between 21 and 26 miles (34 and 42 km) long, [8] [9] [7] it follows the route taken by Potawatomi Indians. [7] The path crosses the estates of the Schwinns, Swifts, Wackers, and Wrigleys. [7]
Walworth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 106,478. Its county seat is Elkhorn. The county was created in 1836 from Wisconsin Territory and organized in 1839. It is named for Reuben H. Walworth. Walworth County comprises the Whitewater-Elkhorn, WI Micropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Milwaukee-Racine-Waukesha, WI Combined Statistical Area. Lake Geneva, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and Alpine Valley Resort, and Music Theatre are located in Walworth County.
Lake Geneva is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located in Walworth County and situated on Geneva Lake, it was home to 8,277 people as of the 2020 census, up from 7,651 at the 2010 census. It is about 40 miles southwest of Milwaukee and 65 miles northwest of Chicago.
Williams Bay is a village in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. It is one of three municipalities on Geneva Lake. The population was 2,953 at the 2020 census.
Muskego is a city in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 25,032. Muskego is the fifth largest community in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Muskego has a large Norwegian population. The name Muskego is derived from the Potawatomi Indian name for the area, "Mus-kee-Guaac", meaning sunfish. The Potawatomi were the original inhabitants of Muskego. There are three lakes within the city's boundaries.
Yerkes Observatory is an astronomical observatory located in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, United States. The observatory was operated by the University of Chicago Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics from its founding in 1897 to 2018. Ownership was transferred to the non-profit Yerkes Future Foundation (YFF) in May 2020, which began restoration and renovation of the historic building and grounds. Re-opening for public tours and programming began May 27, 2022.
Lake Wawasee, formerly Turkey Lake, is a natural lake southeast of Syracuse in Kosciusko County, Indiana, United States. It is the largest natural lake wholly contained within Indiana. It is located just east of Indiana State Road 13.
Big Foot High School (BFHS) is a comprehensive four-year public high school located in Wisconsin's South Central Walworth County in the Village of Walworth. A union high school, BFHS operates as a grade 9-12 district with students coming from four K-8 districts. BFHS is governed by a separate, elected five-member board of education. The BFHS union district serves families from the villages of Fontana, Sharon and Walworth; and the townships of Walworth, Delavan, Linn and Sharon.
Yatesville Lake is a reservoir in Lawrence County, Kentucky in the far eastern part of the state, close to the town of Louisa.
The Forest County Potawatomi Community is a federally recognized tribe of Potawatomi people with approximately 1,400 members as of 2010. The community is based on the Forest County Potawatomi Indian Reservation, which consists of numerous non-contiguous plots of land in southern Forest County and northern Oconto County, Wisconsin, United States. The community also administers about 7 acres (28,000 m2) of off-reservation trust land in the city of Milwaukee. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the reservation and off-reservation trust land together have a total area of 22.72 square miles (58.8 km2). The combined population of Forest County Potawatomi Community and Off-Reservation Trust Land was 594 in the 2020 census. The nation's administrative and cultural center are located about three miles east of Crandon, Wisconsin.
Big Foot Beach State Park is a state park of Wisconsin, United States, on Geneva Lake. The park is used primarily for hiking, swimming, camping, and fishing.
Shabbona, also known as Shabonee and Shaubena, was an Ottawa tribe member who became a chief within the Potawatomi tribe in Illinois during the 19th century.
Pattison State Park is a 1,436-acre (581 ha) Wisconsin state park south of Superior, Wisconsin. Situated on the Black River, the park contains both Big Manitou Falls, the highest waterfall in Wisconsin at 165 feet (50 m), and Little Manitou Falls, which is 30 feet (9.1 m). Pattison State Park was established in 1920.
Mail jumping is a type of mail delivery. The person doing the mail jumping is transported on a body of water by a boat. The person jumps off the boat onto a dock, places incoming mail in a mailbox, retrieves outgoing mail, and jumps back onto the boat. The boat continues to move at a slow and steady pace while the mail jumper is jumping.
The Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge is a newly established United States national wildlife refuge that will include noncontiguous properties, especially tallgrass prairie patches, wetland properties, and oak savanna parcels, located in the northwestern region of the Chicago metropolitan area and the southern part of the Milwaukee area. The refuge's boundaries encompass parts of McHenry County, Illinois, and Walworth County, Wisconsin. The refuge will be operated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, known as USFWS. 85 percent of the refuge will be in Illinois, and 15 percent in Wisconsin.
Turtle Lake is a census-designated place in the town of Richmond, Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 348 as of the 2020 census.
Big Foot Prairie is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in McHenry County, Illinois, United States. It was named a CDP for the 2020 census, at which time it had a population of 65. It is located in Chemung Township. Big Foot Prairie is located on U.S. Route 14, 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Harvard. The community extends north into Walworth County, Wisconsin, where there is a CDP of the same name in the town of Walworth.
Big Foot Prairie is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. It was named a CDP for the 2020 census, at which time it had a population of 22. It is located in the Town of Walworth along U.S. Highway 14, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south of the Village of Walworth. The community of Big Foot Prairie extends south into McHenry County, Illinois, where there is a CDP of the same name in Chemung Township.
Lake Beulah is an unincorporated community in the town of East Troy, Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The unincorporated community surrounds the freshwater Lake Beulah.
Lake James is a natural lake located in the northeast corner of the state of Indiana in the United States. It is popular as a place for boating and fishing and has a wide variety of wildlife. As the state's fourth-largest natural lake, it has over 1,200 acres (490 ha) of surface water, and consists of three basins. Its water quality is ranked among the best in Indiana lakes. The lake is the largest of a group of lakes known as the James Lake Chain. These lakes are located mostly in Steuben County, Indiana, but also extend into southern Michigan.
Big Foot was a leader of the Prairie Band of Potawatomi on Kishwauketoe in what would become the U.S. State of Wisconsin.
Name: Geneva Lake, Area: 5401 acres, Maximum Depth: 135 feet, Mean Depth: 61 feet