QUARANTINE BLOG # 554

October 5, 2021

One of the best lines (and it’s hard to say that because there are so many) from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is his one between Dr. Gillian Taylor and Admiral James T. Kirk.  I mention that line because on October 12 William Shatner will ride Jeff Bezos’ New Shepard into outer space, boldly going where no member of the Enterprise cast has gone before (unless you count James Doohan and Gene Roddenberry’s ashes).

👉  The Bro and I grew up just 10 miles from Deep Creek Lake, Maryland’s largest freshwater lake.  Several summers one or the other of our uncles would come in from New Jersey and stay a lake front property.  They’d rent a boat and we would water ski.  And we remember our Dad talking about lake front property being sold for a few dollars an acre (and today half an acre goes between $200,000 and $500,000 – house extra).  Oh, to start up the Way Back Machine, travel back to 1925 and buy a mile or so of shore line!  Well, since we are still fine tuning the WBM, here is a look at the history of Deep Creek Lake.

The man-made lake got its start in 1925 as the result of an effort undertaken by the Youghiogheny Hydro Electric Corporation to harness the power of Deep Creek, a tributary of the Youghiogheny (pronounced “yahk-a-gainy”) River. 

Large swaths of land were purchased, a 1,300-foot-long impoundment dam was constructed to stem the flow of water in Deep Creek, and thousands of trees were removed from the area to be flooded. In addition, 15 miles of primary and secondary roads were relocated. With Deep Creek sealed off, the expectation was that at least six months would be required for the lake to fill. But, boosted by heavy rains and snowfall, the process took only a couple of months. On May 26, 1925, the hydroelectric plant kicked into service.

Planning began as early as 1908 but early attempts fell through. In 1921 the Youghiogheny Hydro-Electric Corporation was granted the right to construct dams across Deep Creek and the Youghiogheny River, a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Electric Corporation.

Preliminary surveys were conducted in 1922 to determine the water power possibilities by measuring the running levels of the Youghiogheny River. The concept that resulted from these surveys proposed the construction of four dams and three power houses. One of the dams would be located near the confluence of Deep Creek and the Yough (pronounced “yahk”), another in the Yough north of Deep Creek, and 2 dams south of the Deep Creek project. Because it would be financially self-sufficient, feasibility studies showed that the Deep Creek dam and powerhouse should be completed first. In the end, it was the only dam from the original concept to be constructed.

The Eastern Land Corporation was licensed by the state to handle the real estate transactions. The price per acre ranged from $5.00 to $2,500, with an average cost of about $55.00. Entire farms were purchased even when just a portion of the land would be flooded. Many farms were purchased not because they would be flooded but because the roads leading to them would be cut off by the rising water. In total, about 140 farms were purchased to make up the 8,000 acres acquired for the project, with only 4500 acres actually inundated. When possible, buildings were moved to higher ground including private homes and 2 school houses.

Taking almost 2 years to complete, the plant opened for operation at 4 p.m. May 26, 1925. Today, the earth and rock fill dam remains much as it was then. It is about 1,340 feet long and crosses Deep Creek about 1.75 miles upstream from it’s confluence with the Yough. Water from the lake is transported to the powerhouse through a 7,000 foot power tunnel. The brick powerhouse is capable of producing about 18 megawatts of electric power.

Today, the lake is owned by the state of Maryland and managed by the Department of Natural Resources. Holding the title of Maryland’s largest freshwater lake, it is 13 miles long with 65 miles of shoreline and covers about 3,900 acres. With an average depth of about 25 feet, maximum depth reaches about 75 feet near the breast area of the dam. 

Deep Creek Lake

As the years passed, the area’s fishing and boating prowess became well-known to visitors from Pennsylvania. Residents of the Baltimore/Washington population centers also found the area to be a convenient getaway place, especially after interstate highways were built. Among the last of these was I-68 – the national freeway – a major transportation route that arrived in 1991 and further opened up Western Maryland to tourism, commerce and more. Today, 1.2 million visitors each year take advantage of the recreational options offered in and around the Deep Creek Lake area.

👉  For your consideration and amusement:

👉  To call these next “gold backgrounds” would be underwhelming, and plain boring, so they are “Ooh You’re Gold.”

👉  And the song by Wilson Phillips from which I borrowed that label.

👉  Today’s close, “How to Handle Disappointment,” is by Joyce Meyer.

“Why are you cast down, O my inner self? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him” (Psalms 42:11).

When life disappoints us, we can get “reappointed.” We can disappoint the disappointment by deciding to make the best out of the situation.

A positive attitude is a valuable thing to have. Our attitude today is the prophet of our future. It determines the level of our joy and is our best friend or our worst enemy. Your attitude is your thought life turned inside out. It is the posture you decide to take toward life’s circumstances. If we can only have a good attitude when everything is going our way, then we are seriously lacking in spiritual maturity. But when we develop the ability to remain stable in the storm, it glorifies God and witnesses to other people.

Your attitude belongs to you, and nobody can force you to have a bad one if you don’t want to. You have decision-making power, and you can decide right now what your attitude will be today. Misery is an option that you don’t have to take!

Prayer Starter: Dear Lord, I want to be a stable person who can handle disappointment without getting discouraged and sad. I need Your help and I ask You to strengthen me. Help me not to depend on my circumstances for my joy, but to always look to You, Amen!

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