Lake Norman Fun Facts

                                                                                                                    
                           

 

  • Lake Norman’s deepest point is over 100 ft. and has an average depth of 25 ft. Full pond is 760 ft. (above sea level).

 

  • Lake Norman holds approximately 3,400,000,000 gallons of water, having the weight of approximately 13,600,000 tons.

 

  • Lake Norman’s shoreline measures approximately 520 miles, more than the coastlines of North and South Carolina combined.

 

  • Lake Norman got it’s name from former Duke Power president Norman Cocke and is the largest man-made lake in North Carolina, and covers approximately 32,475 acres and is the larger than the Sea of Galilee.

 

  • Lake Norman is bordered by 4 counties: (1) Mecklenburg, which was named for the home province of King George III’s wife, Queen Charlotte; (2) Catawba, which was named for the Catawba Indians, who actually called themselves Eswataroa (meaning great river); (3) Lincoln, named for Benjamin Lincoln; and (4) Iredell named for James Iredell, who never  saw the county.

 

  • During the Revolutionary War, a battle was fought on February  1st 1781 at almost the exact spot where the Cowan’s Ford Dam now sits. Militia General William Lee Davidson, for whom Davidson College is named, was killed in the battle.

 

  • The groundbreaking for Cowan’s Ford Dam was held on September 28th 1959. Governor Terry Sanford was the keynote speaker at the dedication of the completed dam five years later on September 29th 1964.

 

  • The first metal bridge to span the Catawba River, in this area, was built by James W. Brown & B.A. Troutman of Mooresville. They completed the bridge in 1911 and it was located about ¼ of a mile downstream from the present NC Hwy 150 bridge.

 

  • Talk about planning ahead, James B. Duke’s associates began purchasing Catawba Valley bottomland in 1901 to prepare for future power generation.

 

  • Had Lake Norman not been in place, there probably would have been a flooding of the Catawba River Valley in 1970. Severe flooding did occur in 1916 and 1940.

 

  • The Catawba River froze solid enough for horse-drawn wagons to cross on November 27th 1886 and January 19th 1887.

 

  • There have been several unusual sightings around Lake Norman, including a  mysterious cat-like creature known as the Wampus, UFO’s, man sized catfish and an alligator or two.

                                                                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                                          704-896-5141 Office
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Posted by Lee Ann Miller Team at 9/24/2009 10:12 AM
Categories: Recreation, Water, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Real Estate - The Lee Ann Miller Team, Relocation, North Carolina, Catawba County, Allen Tate Company
Tags: Lake Norman Facts Allen Tate Company Sellers Catawba County Cowans Ford Dam Sherrills Ford NC Lake Norman Buyers NC man-made lake hydro station North Carolina Lakes Lee Ann Miller Team
 

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