Elizabeth Lake (California)
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| Elizabeth Lake | |
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| Location | Los Angeles County, California |
| Basin countries | United States |
Elizabeth Lake is a lake located in Los Angeles County, California. It is inside Angeles National Forest. It is west of Palmdale. There is another lake near Elizabeth Lake, Lake Hughes. The two have a common ancestry. Both lakes are located in the San Andreas Fault and are actually sag ponds. Elizabeth Lake Road is the main road that connects the suburbs of Palmdale, Lake Hughes, and Leona Valley and Elizabeth Lake.
Elizabeth Lake is one of the beautiful spots in the Antelope Valley. It once straddled the boundary of the Tataviam and Kittanemuk tribes. The Tataviam may have called the lake Kivarum.
In 1780, Father Junipero Serra named the lake La Laguna de Diablo. The lake earned the name La Laguna de Diablo because all those who lived by it believed it to contain the devil's pet, also known as the Elizabeth Lake Monster [1]. Some still believe it to exist. Sometime after 1834, the lake was named Rabbitt for a very short time. Then it became La Laguna de Chico Lopez.
In 1849, Elizabeth Wingfield was camping with her family beside the lake. She walked down a log which extended into the water to fill buckets for cooking and drinking. Elizabeth slipped off the log and fell into the lake. Although she wasn't injured, several other families also vacationing, witnessed her stumble. In fun they began calling the lake Elizabeth's Lake. The name caught on and locals started calling it Elizabeth Lake. The name didn't become official until much later. It is now sometimes incorrectly referred to as Lake Elizabeth since the local golf course and the community sign project have mislabeled their welcome signs causing much confusion.
In 1924, Judge Hughes separated the western part of Elizabeth Lake to create a recreation resort area. This part of Elizabeth Lake was renamed Lake Hughes.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
Ameluxen, Jack and Louise. Discover Green Valley Local History, Folktales and Facts second edition.
United States Department of Agriculture. Draft Land Management Plan Part 2 Angeles National Forest Strategy. Retrieved on 2007-02-25.
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