This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2007) |
Lake George | |
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Location | Volusia / Putnam counties, Florida, United States |
Coordinates | 29°17′12″N81°35′53″W / 29.28667°N 81.59806°W |
Primary inflows | St. Johns River Juniper Creek Salt Creek Silver Glen Springs |
Primary outflows | St. Johns River |
Basin countries | United States |
Max. length | 11 mi (18 km) |
Max. width | 6 mi (9.7 km) |
Surface area | 46,000 acres (19,000 ha) [1] |
Average depth | 8 ft (2.4 m) |
Islands | Drayton Island Hog Island |
Settlements | Astor, Florida Georgetown, Florida Salt Springs, Florida Pierson, Florida Volusia, Florida |
Lake George or Lake Welaka is a broad and shallow brackish lake on the St. Johns River in the U.S. state of Florida.
The St. Johns River flows out of the lake at the north end at Rocky Point. To the west of this is Salt Cove, taking the flow from Salt Creek. Just south of Salt Cove is Lisk Point, named for a Dr. Lisk who built a house near the point. Steamboats coming down from Jacksonville made a counter clockwise loop around the lake with their first stop at Lisk Point.
Lake George is the second largest lake in Florida, after Lake Okeechobee. Lake George was the third largest lake behind Lake Apopka, but conversion of the littoral zone on the northern side of Lake Apopka to farm fields in the previous century reduced its surface area.
The name of Lake Welaka is taken from "Welaka" (meaning "chain of lakes"), the name for the St. Johns River in Muskogee language of the Seminole. [2] The first European to visit the lake was Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, who as the Spanish governor of Florida, explored the St. Johns River in the spring of 1596. [3]
Later, the Florida territory was sold to Britain. The royal botanist in America to King George III, John Bartram, explored the St. Johns River in 1765. It was John Bartram who gave the lake the name Lake George, in honor of his king. [3]
In more recent years, Lake George has been home to an operational U.S. military bombing and aerial mining range. The range is affiliated with the U.S. Navy's Pinecastle Bombing Range located in the Ocala National Forest just west of Lake George. The bombing ranges date back to World War II, when the Navy built bomb targets in Lake George and nearby Crescent Lake, and stationed personnel in the area to maintain the targets and perform search and rescue operations for downed pilots. Today, the range is under the operational control of nearby Naval Air Station Jacksonville.
The lake also hosts a wide variety of wildlife ranging from migratory water birds and alligators to a number of normally marine animals. Local springs in Lake George (and throughout the St Johns River) impart enough salt to the system to make the habitat suitable to resident and migratory marine species like Atlantic stingray, various species of mullet, striped bass and blue crabs. There is a large enough blue crab population to support a local fishery, making it one of the only fresh water blue crab fisheries in the world.
Volusia County is a county located in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Florida between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2020 census, the county was home to 553,543 people, an increase of 11.9% from the 2010 census. It was founded on December 29, 1854, from part of Orange County, and was named for the community of Volusia, located in northwestern Volusia County. Its first county seat was Enterprise. Since 1887, its county seat has been DeLand.
Astor is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lake County, Florida, United States, located on the west side of the St. Johns River between Lake George and Lake Dexter. The community straddles State Road 40, with the community of Volusia in Volusia County across the St. Johns to the east and Astor Park to the west. The population was 1,556 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Winter Garden is a city in western Orange County, Florida, United States. Located 14 miles (23 km) west of Downtown Orlando, it is part of the Orlando metropolitan area. The population was 46,964 as of the 2020 census.
The St. Johns River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and it is the most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At 310 miles (500 km) long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in elevation from headwaters to mouth is less than 30 feet (9 m); like most Florida waterways, the St. Johns has a very slow flow speed of 0.3 mph (0.13 m/s), and is often described as "lazy".
State Road 15 is part of the Florida State Road System. This route is part of a multi two-state route 15 that begins at Florida and ends at Georgia at the North Carolina state line.
Euryhaline organisms are able to adapt to a wide range of salinities. An example of a euryhaline fish is the short-finned molly, Poecilia sphenops, which can live in fresh water, brackish water, or salt water.
Enterprise is an unincorporated community in Volusia County, in the U.S. state of Florida, and its former county seat. Situated on the northern shore of Lake Monroe, it is flanked by the cities of DeBary and Deltona. Enterprise was once the head of navigation on the St. Johns River and at various times, the county seat for three different counties: Mosquito, which was renamed as Orange; and lastly, for Volusia, which was formed from part of Orange County.
The St. Johns River Water Management District ("SJRWMD") is one of five Florida water management districts that is responsible for managing groundwater and surface water resources in Florida. SJRWMD covers an 18-county region in northeast and east-central Florida.
Volusia is an unincorporated community in Volusia County, Florida, United States, on the eastern shore of the St. Johns River. It is about three miles south of Lake George and across the river from the town of Astor in Lake County. Established by Spanish missionaries, Volusia is one of the oldest European settlements in Florida. The main route through the town is State Road 40, which crosses the St. Johns on the Astor Bridge.
The Lake George State Forest is a designated protected area and state forest in the U.S. state of Florida. The 21,176-acre (8,570 ha) forest is located in northwestern Volusia County, Florida, near Lake George and the communities of Pierson, Barberville, and Volusia. It is overseen by the Florida Forest Service within the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the U.S. state of Florida.
This page is a list of fishing topics.
Tsala Apopka Lake is a chain of lakes located within a bend in the Withlacoochee River in Citrus County in north central Florida. This area is known historically as the Cove of the Withlacoochee.
The Sandra Stetson Aquatic Center is a 10,000 square foot building and ten acre natural area located along Lake Beresford in DeLand, Florida. The facility is named in honor of Sandra Stetson, who provided a $6 million gift to support construction of the building and a botanical garden within the grounds. Sandra Stetson is the great granddaughter of famed hat-maker John B. Stetson, for whom Stetson University is named.
Lake Harney, named for General William S. Harney, is a lake that straddles the county line between Volusia County and Seminole County, Florida, at the coordinates latitude 28°45’21.404", longitude 81° 03’36.019". It is fed by the Saint Johns River which flows through central Florida and feeds many of the nearby lakes such as Lake Monroe.
The Fort Gates Ferry is an auto ferry that crosses the St. Johns River in Florida, downstream of Lake George and just upstream of Little Lake George, at Fruitland Cove. The oldest operating ferry in Florida, it acts as part of the Florida Black Bear Scenic Byway.
The Astor Bridge is a single-leaf bascule bridge located in Astor, Florida that carries State Road 40 over the St. Johns River into Volusia. The first bridge on the site was built in 1926; the current bridge dates from 1980.