Wilde Lake, Columbia, Maryland

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Wilde Lake is an artificial lake and a surrounding neighborhood, or "village", located in Columbia, Maryland. It was the first portion of the "New Town" of Columbia to be built during the late 1960s. The lake itself is named for Frazar B. Wilde, a past chairman of the board of Connecticut General Life Insurance Company. In 1963, the company agreed to invest in the project and, in return, acquired an equity participation. This arrangement was subsequently formalized by the creation of The Howard Research and Development Corporation, the joint venture established to develop Columbia.

Neighborhoods in the Village of Wilde Lake include: Bryant Woods (named for William Cullen Bryant), Faulkner Ridge (named for William Faulkner), Running Brook (where the streets are named for Robert Frost's poems and Aesop's Fables), and The Birches.

Wilde Lake High School, alma mater of actor (and grandson of Columbia founder James W. Rouse) Edward Norton, is located in the Village of Wilde Lake. Wilde Lake High School's architecture includes skylights and a main street. The old design was oval and two stories, with a media center located in the center and accessible from the second level. The original high school was demolished in 1996 and new one constructed.

The walking path around the lake is 1.46 miles long.