Lake Springfield is a 4,260-acre (17.2 km2) reservoir on the southeast edge of the city of Springfield, Illinois. It is 560 ft (170 m) above sea level. The lake was formed in 1931-1935 by building Spaulding Dam across Sugar Creek, a tributary of the Sangamon River.
The lake was created, at a cost of $2.5 million (in 1930s dollars), as a source of water for Springfield and to provide coolant for the City Water, Light & Power coal-fired electrical generating plant. It has also served as a focus of local recreation. High-powered motor boats are allowed on much of the lake, and the lake is known for warm-water fish.
Lake Springfield can be seen from Interstate 55. The limited-access highway crosses the lake on two bridges between mileposts 88 and 89. The lake is accessible from exit 88 (East Lake Shore Drive), exit 90 (Toronto Road), and exit 94 (Stevenson Drive).
Lake Springfield is close to the campus of the University of Illinois Springfield. It also borders Abraham Lincoln Memorial Garden, a local arboretum, and the Henson Robinson Zoo. Lake Park, just north of the zoo, has preserved ruts of the Edwards Trace pioneer trail; a historical marker was posted near the trace in 2002.
Lake Springfield tributaries include Lick Creek and Sugar Creek. Water discharged from these watercourses into Lake Springfield fluctuates with the seasons and with changes in local precipitation, and City Water, Light & Power has asked for permission to build a buffer lake, Hunter Lake, nearby.
CWLP constructed a new water purification plant in 1926 and immediately enlarged it a year later. Soon after, city officials realized that something had to be done to supply the growing city with more water than the Sangamon River could provide. The first proposal was to drill more wells, but it would have been too costly, and in the long run it still would not have provided enough water. That led to the only possible solution, a manmade lake.
The effort to build the lake was led by longtime city Utilities Commissioner Willis J. Spaulding. Voters approved a bond referendum in 1930 to pay for part of the lake. Spaulding Dam is named after the commissioner, who oversaw Springfield’s electric and water departments from 1909 until 1943. In the end, however, federal relief programs such as the Works Progress Administration paid much of the lake’s $5.64 million cost. Most of those who owned land needed for the lake were willing sellers, thanks partly to the Great Depression, but not all. Leander Shoup had to be “escorted from his land by the sheriff and ten deputies,” according to a City Water, Light and Power history of the lake.
Three water sources originally were considered for construction of the lake - the Sangamon River, the South Fork of the Sangamon and the Sugar Creek Valley. Engineers determined that Sugar Creek was the most economical option.
In October 1931 CWLP hired two hundred laborers to begin clearing the land for the lake at a rate of fifty cents an hour, even though the local labor union argued that the wage should be fifty-five cents. Land was cleared from 1931 to 1935, and many miles of roadway, water mains, sewers, and power lines were laid. In addition, construction crews worked to provide the city with a public beach and beach house, six highway bridges, one railroad bridge, and two dams. Construction on the Lakeside Power Station and the Water Purification Plant also began during that period. By December 1933 the lake was ready to begin taking on water from Sugar Creek and its tributary, Lick Creek. It was estimated that it would take approximately seven months to fill the 4,300-acre Lake Springfield, but due to a severe drought, it took eighteen months. Water first ran over the dam spillway at 12:30 a.m. on May 2, 1935. At it fullest point, it contained 21.4 billion gallons of water, covered 4,260 acres, and was a sufficient supply of water for a city with a population of 300,000. At that point, the majority of the construction was complete. All that remained was that of the completion of the Lakeside Power Station, which was finished in March 1936, and the Water Purification Plant, which was finished in October 1936.
Hope you enjoyed the views of Springfield Lake - hope you enjoyed the views from a bird's eye view!
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