Lake Phelps
Encyclopedia
Lake Phelps is North Carolina
's second largest natural lake. It has a surface area of 16600 acres (67.2 km²), and it is located primarily in Washington County
on the Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula
between the Albemarle Sound
and the Pamlico Sound
. The easternmost part of the lake extends into Tyrrell County
. An Indian dugout canoe was found in the lake dating back nearly 4,400 years. Other artifiacts have been found around the area dating as early as 8,000 B.C.
Its origin has long puzzled scientists. Some say that its origin is underground springs, wave action, wind, a meteor
, glacial activity or a peat burn. It is more or less a round shape.
Lake Phelps is named for Josiah Phelps, the first white man to enter its waters. Phelps and another colonial explorer, Benjamin Tarkington, were searching through what was then known as the Great Eastern Dismal or Great Alligator Dismal in 1755. Phelps and Tarkington were part of a group of hunters who entered the swamps in search of game
and farmland
. The group had become discouraged and were about to leave when Tarkington scaled one of the many trees and spotted the lake a short distance away. Phelps went ahead and ran into the water. As the first in the water he was given the honor of naming the lake.
The lake was established as a North Carolina State Lake in 1929, and it is managed by the adjacent Pettigrew State Park
.
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
's second largest natural lake. It has a surface area of 16600 acres (67.2 km²), and it is located primarily in Washington County
Washington County, North Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 13,723 people, 5,367 households, and 3,907 families residing in the county. The population density was 39 people per square mile . There were 6,174 housing units at an average density of 18 per square mile...
on the Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula
Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula
Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula is a large peninsula on the North Carolina coast, lying between the Albemarle Sound to the north and the Pamlico Sound to the south. The 5 counties of Dare, Hyde, Beaufort, Tyrrell, and Washington all lie wholly or partly on the peninsula.Much of the peninsula is...
between the Albemarle Sound
Albemarle Sound
Albemarle Sound is a large estuary on the coast of North Carolina in the United States located at the confluence of a group of rivers, including the Chowan and Roanoke. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Outer Banks, a long barrier peninsula upon which the town of Kitty Hawk is located,...
and the Pamlico Sound
Pamlico Sound
Pamlico Sound in North Carolina, is the largest lagoon along the U.S. East Coast, being long and 24 to 48 km wide. It is a body of water separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Outer Banks, a row of low, sandy barrier islands, including Cape Hatteras. The Neuse and Pamlico rivers flow in...
. The easternmost part of the lake extends into Tyrrell County
Tyrrell County, North Carolina
-Demographics:Tyrrell County was as of 2000 the least populous county in North Carolina.As of the census of 2000, there were 4,149 people, 1,537 households, and 1,055 families residing in the county. The population density was 11 people per square mile . There were 2,032 housing units at an...
. An Indian dugout canoe was found in the lake dating back nearly 4,400 years. Other artifiacts have been found around the area dating as early as 8,000 B.C.
Its origin has long puzzled scientists. Some say that its origin is underground springs, wave action, wind, a meteor
METEOR
METEOR is a metric for the evaluation of machine translation output. The metric is based on the harmonic mean of unigram precision and recall, with recall weighted higher than precision...
, glacial activity or a peat burn. It is more or less a round shape.
Lake Phelps is named for Josiah Phelps, the first white man to enter its waters. Phelps and another colonial explorer, Benjamin Tarkington, were searching through what was then known as the Great Eastern Dismal or Great Alligator Dismal in 1755. Phelps and Tarkington were part of a group of hunters who entered the swamps in search of game
Game (food)
Game is any animal hunted for food or not normally domesticated. Game animals are also hunted for sport.The type and range of animals hunted for food varies in different parts of the world. This will be influenced by climate, animal diversity, local taste and locally accepted view about what can or...
and farmland
Arable land
In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...
. The group had become discouraged and were about to leave when Tarkington scaled one of the many trees and spotted the lake a short distance away. Phelps went ahead and ran into the water. As the first in the water he was given the honor of naming the lake.
The lake was established as a North Carolina State Lake in 1929, and it is managed by the adjacent Pettigrew State Park
Pettigrew State Park
Pettigrew State Park is a North Carolina State Park in Tyrrell and Washington Counties, North Carolina in the United States. It covers around the shore lines of Lake Phelps and the Scuppernong River. The park's developed facilities are south of U.S. Route 64 near Roper and Creswell, North Carolina...
.