Lake Wallenpaupack

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Lake Wallenpaupack

Location	Pennsylvania
Coordinates	41°24′47″N, 75°14′25″WCoordinates: 41°24′47″N, 75°14′25″W
Lake type	reservoir
Basin countries	United States

Lake Wallenpaupack ( 41°24′47″N, 75°14′25″W) is an artificial reservoir in Pennsylvania, USA. It was created in 1927 by PPL, the PA Power & Light Company, for hydroelectric purposes. It is located near Hawley, on the border of Pike and Wayne counties in northeastern Pennsylvania. The Lenape Indians named the area "Wallenpaupack" which means "The Stream of Swift and Slow Water."

According to the Hawley-Lake Wallenpaupack Chamber of Commerce^[1]:

"Construction started early in 1924 and 2,700 men worked nearly 2 years to complete the project. It included the dam, the power plant, and the giant wooden flow line to carry the water from the Lake to the plant location 3 1/2 miles^[2] away. The original wooden structure, one of the world's largest pipelines at that time, was constructed from 5 million board feet^[3] of Douglas fir and transported by ship from the state of Washington. The Wallenpaupack 44 MW power plant was constructed simultaneously with the dam and put into service in 1926. The plant increased PPL's system generating capacity approximately 25% in 1926. Its system-wide generating capacity, when the plant went on line, was only about 225 MW."

The Pike/Wayne Association of REALTORS^[4] says:

"Construction of the dam... [costed] $1,026,000. Today, PP&L owns acreage around the lake to an elevation of 1,200 feet above sea level. Since the lake elevation is 1,190 feet above sea level at capacity, the power company still owns the extra 10 feet right near the shoreline. The power plant is operated today from a control center in Allentown, 100 miles away and provides extra power during periods of peak demand."

In order to create the lake, the dam was constructed on Wallenpaupack Creek at Wilsonville. The land of Wilsonville and the surrounding area in the valley was purchased by PPL from about 100 owners at about $20 an acre and all property was razed or moved. Seventeen miles of roads and telephone poles were rerouted, and one cemetery had to be relocated. The former town of Wilsonville now lays under the water near the dam.^[4]y

"When the lake was completed, four areas of company-owned land at various locations around the lake were set aside for public access and for camping. These are the Ledgedale, Ironwood Point, Wilsonville, and Caffrey recreation areas. Lake Wallenpaupack's value as an ideal recreation spot has been evident since its construction. Businesses have sprung up, grown, and prospered as the area around the lake has developed into a major recreation and tourist area of eastern Pennsylvania and nearby New York."^[4]

Lake Wallenpaupack is a center of recreation for the surrounding communities, providing boating and fishing access in the summertime, as well as ice skating and ice fishing in the winter. Lake fish include smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, rock bass, walleye, muskellunge, pickerel, rainbow trout, brown trout, catfish and yellow perch. Striped bass and hybrid striped bass have been stocked in the lake. The lake is 13 miles long, has 52 miles of shoreline, and is about 60 feet deep at its maximum depth.

The lake was the subject of "Booze Cruise", a 2006 episode of the NBC sitcom, The Office. In the episode of the show, which is set in nearby Scranton, the office crew goes on a "motivational" cruise on the lake. The episode was actually recorded in Long Beach Harbor, not the actual Lake Wallenpaupack. Interestingly the episode placed the time being January, but this is impossible because all boats and docks must be removed in October. Also, at this time the lake is frozen making any boat navigation impossible.