Lake Artemesia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lake Artemesia is the center piece of the Lake Artemesia Natural Area in College Park and Berwyn Heights, Prince George's County, Maryland. The natural area is administered by Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and features the 38 acre (154,000 m²) Lake Artemesia, aquatic gardens, fishing piers, and hiker-biker trails.

The lake, located between Indian Creek and Paint Branch, was constructed during the completion of the Washington Metro's Green Line, which runs alongside the lake. Sand and gravel were excavated from the site of a smaller lake and the surrounding area to construct the rail beds and parking lots for the College Park-University of Maryland and Greenbelt Metrorail stations. Metro saved $10 million by sourcing the material locally and in return spent $8 million constructing the lake and natural area to repair the excavation damage. During the construction phase, signs identified the site as "Lake Metro."

The park is named for Artemesia N. Drefs, who donated ten lots to the county for preservation as open space in 1972. The smaller lake that existed on the site prior to the Metro-funded reconstruction was already named Lake Artemesia after Artemesia's mother and grandmother, who shared the same name. Drefs's father, Arthur, surveyed the land for his Lakeland development in the 1890s; according to Drefs, the pre-existing lake was originally stocked with bass but were later used to raise goldfish.

The 1.35 mile hiker-biker trail around the lake is part of the Anacostia Tributary Trail System.

[edit] External links

• M-NCPPC Park Webpage
• Lake Artemesia: A Visual Portrait

	Potomac River system Cities and towns | Bridges | Islands | Variant names
	Regions
	Allegheny Front | Allegheny Mountains | Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area | Blue Ridge Mountains | Cumberland Valley | Eastern Panhandle | Northern Neck | Northern Virginia | Potomac Highlands | Ridge-and-valley Appalachians | Shenandoah Valley | Southern Maryland | Western Maryland
	Tributaries
	North Branch | Stony River | Abram Creek | Savage River | Georges Creek | Wills Creek | Evitts Creek | Patterson Creek | South Branch | North Fork South Branch | South Fork South Branch | Town Creek | Little Cacapon River | Fifteenmile Creek | Sideling Hill Creek | Cacapon River | Lost River | North River (West Virginia) | Tonoloway Creek | Sleepy Creek | Licking Creek | Back Creek | Little Conococheague Creek | Conococheague Creek | Opequon Creek | Antietam Creek | Shenandoah River | North Fork Shenandoah River | South Fork Shenandoah River | North River (Virginia) | South River | Catoctin Creek (Maryland) | Catoctin Creek (Virginia) | Monocacy River | Little Monocacy River | Goose Creek | Little River | Seneca Creek | Cabin John Creek | Rock Creek | Anacostia River | Sligo Creek | Four Mile Run | Oxon Creek | Hunting Creek | Piscataway Creek | Dogue Creek | Accotink Creek | Pohick Creek | Occoquan River | Bull Run | Neabsco Creek | Mattawoman Creek | Quantico Creek | Chopawamsic Creek | Aquia Creek | Potomac Creek | Nanjemoy Creek | Port Tobacco River | Wicomico River | Coan River | St. Marys River | Yeocomico River | Hull Creek
	Lakes and reservoirs
	Lake Accotink | Lake Anne | Lake Artemesia | Lake Bernard Frank | Lake Braddock | Breckenridge Reservoir | Brushy Fork Lake | Burke Lake | Dalecarlia Reservoir | Georgetown Reservoir | Jennings Randolph Lake | Kingman Lake | McMillan Reservoir | Mount Storm Lake | Lake Needwood | Sleepy Creek Lake | Stony River Reservoir | Trout Pond | Warden Lake
	Dependent states
	District of Columbia | Maryland | Pennsylvania | Virginia | West Virginia