Leaser Lake

Last updated
Leaser Lake
Leaser Lake, Lynn Township, PA.jpg
USA Pennsylvania relief location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Leaser Lake
Location of Leaser Lake in Pennsylvania
Location8502 Pleasure Court
New Tripoli, Pennsylvania 18066
Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
Coordinates 40°40′07″N75°50′05″W / 40.66861°N 75.83472°W / 40.66861; -75.83472
Type Artificial lake
Primary inflows Jacksonville Branch of the Ontelaunee Creek
Primary outflows Sinking Creek
Basin  countriesUnited States
Surface area117 acres (47 ha)
Max. depth45 ft (14 m)
References GeoNames [1]

Leaser Lake is a man-made lake located near the village of Jacksonville in Lynn Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The lake is owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and managed by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC). [2]

Contents

The lake was built for recreational use and opened to the public in 1971. It is the only lake in Lehigh County. [3] The lake is part of a 540 acre park which is owned in part by the PFBC and in part by Lehigh County. [4]

The lake covers 117 acres and is 45 feet deep. [5] The lake is created by a dam located on the Jacksonville Branch of the Ontelaunee Creek which is a tributary of Maiden Creek. The dam consists of an earth embankment, approximately 430 feet long by 53 feet high, and the top of the dam is 24 feet wide. [2]

History

Monument at Leaser Lake to Frederick Leaser, who transported the Liberty Bell from Philadelphia to present-day Allentown, where it was successfully hidden from the British Army for nine months Frederick Leaser Monument, Leaser Lake, PA.jpg
Monument at Leaser Lake to Frederick Leaser, who transported the Liberty Bell from Philadelphia to present-day Allentown, where it was successfully hidden from the British Army for nine months

The lake is named after American patriot Frederick Leaser, [4] who during the Revolutionary War in September 1777, transported the Liberty Bell from Philadelphia, then the revolutionary capital of the Thirteen Colonies to Allentown to protect it from the British as they were preparing to seize to Philadelphia. While in route, the wagon carrying the bell broke down and the bell was then transferred to Leaser's wagon to complete the journey to Zion Reformed Church in Allentown. [6] Leaser's home was in what is now known as Lynn Township.

Leaser Lake dam has had a seepage problem since it was first filled. In 1991, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission drained the lake to make needed repairs on the dam. The 1991 repairs proved to be inadequate and in 1999 the lake had to be drained 20 feet to prevent dam failure. [7] In 2008-2009, the lake was once again drained to rebuild the dam and spillway. [8]

Shortly after the lake was reopened, seepage was once again discovered which prevented the lake from being completely filled. The new seepage location was not where the dam's last $3.5 million rebuilding project had taken place. In September 2014, the lake was lowered by 20 feet so that repairs could be made to the recent seeping area. [9] Repairs to the dam were completed in Spring 2015 and the lake was filled to capacity for the first time since 1991. [10]

Primary fish

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lehigh County, Pennsylvania</span> County in Pennsylvania, United States

Lehigh County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 374,557. Its county seat is Allentown, the state's third-largest city after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allentown, Pennsylvania</span> Home rule municipality in Pennsylvania, United States

Allentown is a city in Pennsylvania and the county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the third-most-populous city in Pennsylvania with a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 census and the most populous city in the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the nation as of 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salisbury Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania</span> Township in Pennsylvania, United States

Salisbury Township is a township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States. The township's population was 13,621 at the 2020 census. The township borders Allentown, Pennsylvania's third-largest city, Bethlehem, and Emmaus, in the Lehigh Valley, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morris Canal</span> Canal in New Jersey

The Morris Canal (1829–1924) was a 107-mile (172 km) common carrier anthracite coal canal across northern New Jersey that connected the two industrial canals in Easton, Pennsylvania across the Delaware River from its western terminus at Phillipsburg, New Jersey to New York Harbor and New York City through its eastern terminals in Newark and on the Hudson River in Jersey City. The canal was sometimes called the Morris and Essex Canal, in error, due to confusion with the nearby and unrelated Morris and Essex Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lehigh Valley</span> Metropolitan Statistical Area in the United States

The Lehigh Valley is a geographic and metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh and Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bounded to its north by Blue Mountain, to its south by South Mountain, to its west by Lebanon Valley, and to its east by the Delaware River and Warren County, New Jersey. The Lehigh Valley is about 40 miles (64 km) long and 20 miles (32 km) wide. The Lehigh Valley's largest city is Allentown, the third-largest city in Pennsylvania and the county seat of Lehigh County, with a population of 125,845 residents as of the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WFMZ-TV</span> Independent TV station in Allentown, Pennsylvania

WFMZ-TV is an independent television station in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States. Locally-based Maranatha Broadcasting Company owns both WFMZ-TV and Wilmington, Delaware–licensed MeTV affiliate WDPN-TV. The two stations share studios on East Rock Road on South Mountain in Allentown, where WFMZ-TV's transmitter is located. WFMZ-TV also maintains a secondary studio in the PPL Center sports arena in Center City Allentown and a newsroom on Court Street in Reading.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wescosville, Pennsylvania</span> Census-designated place in Pennsylvania, United States

Wescosville is a census-designated place located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. It is located between Allentown and Trexlertown in Lower Macungie Township. It is part of the Lehigh Valley, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gouldsboro State Park</span> State park in Monroe and Wayne counties, Pennsylvania

Gouldsboro State Park is a 2,880-acre (1,165 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Coolbaugh Township, Monroe County and Lehigh Township, Wayne County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park includes the 250-acre (100 ha) Gouldsboro Lake. Gouldsboro State Park is located very close to Tobyhanna State Park and Pennsylvania State Game Lands 127 and 312. It is on Pennsylvania Route 507 near the small village of Gouldsboro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walker Lake (Pennsylvania)</span> Lake of the United States of America

Clarence F. Walker Lake is a 239-acre (0.97 km²) reservoir, formed by a dam and used for flood control and recreation. It is located in Adams Township, Snyder County, Pennsylvania near the town of Troxelville. The lake and shoreline are owned and managed by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) for recreational fishing and boating. Fish species present include northern pike, largemouth bass, walleye, black crappie, and bluegill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberty Bell Museum</span> History museum in Allentown, Pennsylvania U.S.

The Liberty Bell Museum, also the Liberty Bell Shrine Museum was a non-profit organization and museum located in Zion's United Church of Christ, formerly Zion's Reformed Church, in Allentown, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The museum was located in the basement of the church, where the Liberty Bell, an iconic and globally-recognized symbol of America's independence and freedom, was hidden from the British Army by Allentown-area American patriots during the American Revolutionary War from September 1777 to June 1778.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canonsburg Lake</span> Lake in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania

Canonsburg Lake is a lake in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. It is an artificial lake formed by the waters of Little Chartiers Creek behind a 525 feet (160 m) long and 45 feet (14 m) high concrete dam. The dam was built in 1943 by Alcoa to create a freshwater reservoir for the Canonsburg Forging Plant, which was considered a strategic resource during World War II. In 1957, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) acquired the 138-acre property from Alcoa, which included the 76-acre surface area of the lake plus the dam and surrounding lands. The PFBC converted the body of water from an industrial reservoir into a recreational lake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lehigh Valley Roller Derby</span> Roller derby league

Lehigh Valley Roller Derby (LVRD) is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The league is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meredith Marakovits</span> American sports reporter (born 1983)

Meredith Marakovits is an American sports reporter. She is the clubhouse reporter for the YES Network, where she reports on the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball for the network’s Yankees game telecasts, pre-game and post-game shows, and the Yankees' Batting Practice Today show. Marakovits also appears on the network's special Yankees programming and contributes to the YESNetwork.com web site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meadow Grounds Lake</span>

Meadow Grounds Lake was completed in June of 1964 and is a 204-acre reservoir located within State Game Lands 53 in Fulton County, Pennsylvania. The dam and lake areas are leased to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The dam was designed and built by the PFBC and construction of the dam was complete in June 1964. As the permit holder for the Meadow Grounds Dam the PFBC is responsible for its safe operation and maintenance. Meadow Grounds Dam is categorized by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) as a High Hazard, size class B structure. The drainage area of the dam’s watershed is 3.2 square miles on Roaring Run. The zoned earth embankment creates a 204-acre reservoir and at normal pool stores 3130 (acre-feet) of water. A normal pool elevation of 1495.3’ is maintained throughout the year via the principal and auxiliary spillways. The zoned earth fill dam is 39 feet in height and 530 feet long. The auxiliary spillway at Meadow Grounds Dam is a trapezoidal-shaped concrete chute cut into rock though a natural saddle about 200 feet to the right of the dams right abutment. The spillway is provided with a 67 foot long trapezoidal-shaped weir that discharges into a concrete lined stilling basin and then into a riprap lined earth channel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trexler Nature Preserve</span> Park in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania (est. 2006)

The Trexler Nature Preserve is an 1,108-acre county park (448 ha) owned and maintained by Lehigh County in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. The preserve is situated in Lowhill Township and North Whitehall Township and the land that comprises the preserve was originally purchased between 1901 and 1911 by local industrialist General Harry Clay Trexler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Leaser</span> Pennsylvanian German farmer, patriot and soldier

Frederick Leaser (1738–1810) was a Pennsylvanian German farmer, patriot and soldier from Lynn in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. During the American Revolutionary War, he transported the Liberty Bell to the Zion Reformed Church in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where it was successfully hidden and protected from the British for nine months during the British occupation of Philadelphia, then the revolutionary capital of the Thirteen Colonies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacksonville, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania</span> Unincorporated community in Pennsylvania, United States

Jacksonville is an unincorporated community that is located in Lynn Township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Lehigh Valley, which has a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Allentown mayoral election</span> American election

The 2021 mayoral election in Allentown, Pennsylvania was held on November 2, 2021. The primary election was held on May 18, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Allentown mayoral special election</span>

The Allentown 2019 special mayoral election was held on May 19, 2019 following the resignation of Democratic mayor Ed Pawlowski. Incumbent interim Democratic mayor Ray O'Connell defeated Republican challenger Timothy Ramos.

References

  1. "Leaser Lake". GeoNames.org.
  2. 1 2 "Leaser Lake Information Paper". fishandboat.com. Archived from the original on 2016-09-05. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  3. "Leaser Lake Boats, Bikes & Bait". www.leaserlake.com. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  4. 1 2 "Leaser Lake". www.lehighcounty.org. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  5. 1 2 "Pennsylvania Lakes - Leaser Lake". fishandboat.com. Archived from the original on 2016-04-06. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  6. "American hero rocks the cradle, saves the Liberty Bell | The State Museum of Pennsylvania". statemuseumpa.org. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  7. "About Us". www.leaserlakeheritage.org. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  8. "Before the dam breaks, let the waters rise". tribunedigital-mcall. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  9. "Leaser Lake undergoing yet another repair". tribunedigital-mcall. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  10. WFMZ. "Leaser Lake in Lehigh County ready for boats, bikes". WFMZ. Retrieved 2016-02-26.