Lake Decatur is a 2,800-acre (11 km2) reservoir located in the city of Decatur, Illinois, east of downtown. The city and lake both share the name of U.S. Navy Commodore Stephen Decatur. The lake is 613 feet (187 m) above sea level. Lake Decatur has a watershed of 925 square miles (2,396 km² or 592,000 acres) spanning 7 counties. The largest lake on the Sangamon River, it was created in 1920-1922.
Famous quotes containing the word lake:
“A lake is the landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature. The fluviatile trees next the shore are the slender eyelashes which fringe it, and the wooded hills and cliffs around are its overhanging brows.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)