Lake Expansion
In 1871, the Tualatin River Navigation & Manufacturing Company began work to build a continuous waterway that would connect the Tualatin River to the Willamette. The company planned to build two canals: one to connect the Tualatin to the lake to provide access to the iron smelter, and a second with locks that would connect the lake to the Willamette via Sucker Creek. The first canal was finished in 1872, but due to low water, was not passed through until January 21, 1873, when the sternwheeler Onward made the first trip. In 1873, the completion of the Willamette Falls Locks made traffic past Willamette Falls possible without portage; since the Tualatin was more difficult to navigate anyway, the idea of a second canal was abandoned.
A series of wooden dams had been built at the outlet to Sucker Creek beginning in 1860 to provide water power; but since winter floods would wash out these dams within a few years, in 1921 a concrete dam was built, which not only provided a more reliable power source, but also allowed the lake level to be precisely controlled. The level was allowed to rise several feet to cover the unsightly stumps left over from logging and create a more visually appealing shoreline.
With the name Sucker Lake considered unappealing to potential residents, the community decided to rename the lake. While "Lake Tualatin" was considered, in 1913 the United States Board on Geographic Names officially renamed it Oswego Lake. In 1961, the USGS officially changed the name to "Lake Oswego," though the old name is usually used to avoid confusion with the name of the city.
In 1928, a marshy area known as the Duck Pond adjacent to the lake was flooded, and a canal dug to it to connect to the main lake to create Lakewood Bay, which allowed more shoreline homes to be built next to the newly completed Pacific Highway (now part of Oregon Route 43).
Read more about this topic: Oswego Lake
Famous quotes containing the words lake and/or expansion:
“Such were the first rude beginnings of a town. They spoke of the practicability of a winter road to the Moosehead Carry, which would not cost much, and would connect them with steam and staging and all the busy world. I almost doubted if the lake would be there,—the self-same lake,—preserve its form and identity, when the shores should be cleared and settled; as if these lakes and streams which explorers report never awaited the advent of the citizen.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The fundamental steps of expansion that will open a person, over time, to the full flowering of his or her individuality are the same for both genders. But men and women are rarely in the same place struggling with the same questions at the same age.”
—Gail Sheehy (20th century)