The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1932-07-14
The Big Lake in Maryland's Mountains

tain streams which feed the lake flow
southwestward. But the dam which
impounds them lies at the northern
end of the lake. Its spillways over
flow into the Youghiogheny, so that
the southwestward streams turn north
into the river eventually. The river,
making a huge, slow bend to the
northwest, eventually reaches Nc
Keesport, where there is a confiu-
ence with the Monongahela. Ten
miles further the waters merge with
the Allegheny River.
And then, surprisingly, the streams
turn almost upon themselves and to-
gether move southwark as the Ohio
River. So at last the waters of the
lake reach the Gulf of Mexico, while
only a few miles eastward there are
streams reaching the Chesapeake Bay
and the Atlantic. Indeed, at Deer
Park, resort only few miles from
the lake, two springs arise within a
short distance of each other. Their
neighborliness stops at once, for one
moves eastward, the other west, and
the rills they form reach the seas
thousands of miles apart. Going any
where by following the course of a
stream in Garrett county is likely to
prove rather complicated matter.
Perhaps the most extraordinary
complication in which the lake is in
volved is with regard to Oakland, the
Garrett county seat, five miles south
west of it. None of the power gen.
Grated by the lake is used in Maryland
except to illuminate the structures i'm
mediately surrounding the lake it.
self. The power house, indeed, is nine
miles beyond the lake to the north.
Johnstown, Pa, is the user of the
electric current supplied by the lake
that lies so near to CARROTS seat of
government. Oakland itself gets light
and power from a West Virginia pow
er company, and that company de-
rives its power from lake situated
in Pennsylvania.
Deep Creek Lakes water goes on
an underground journey from its i'm
pound to the power plant. A two-mile
tunnel through the mountains con-
tains two six-foot pipes which carry
the flow. Since the tunnel descends
to an altitude lesser by $50 feet than
the lake level, the water it carries
is something of raging torrent by
the time the plant is reached.
Scenically the area surrounding the
lake perhaps is unsurpassed in Mary
land. A Baltimorean travelling to
Oakland crosses the entire Blue Ridge
chain, moves from ridge to ridge of
the foothills that lie west of it, climbs
the eastern slopes of the Alleghe-
MES and at last finds himself on the
western side of that great range of
hills, with an elevation of some 5000
feet of sea level achieved. The lake
itself is $500 feet above the sea, and
Negro Mountain, highest of the slopes
between Baltimore and Oakland, is
just over the 3,0O0-foot mark.
Important as it is from stand
point of those sports which range
through the spring, summer and au-
tumn hunting and fishing seasons, the
area in the vicinity of Deep Creek
Lake is regarded by those who know
it as remarkably situated for winter
sports. Last winter Garrett county
had little snow until March, when a
fall of some fifteen inches came along
belatedly and isolated many farmers
for time. AS a rule, however, the
lake can be depended upon to provide
sheet of ice fifteen inches in thick
ness, and the temperatures range
downward to some 20 degrees below
zero. And when it SHOWS in Garrett
county the snow stays. Along the
roadsides now are rolled up "snow
fences" maintained by the State
Roads Commission to act as break