New Lake Names
The LELA lakes now have new names! Reservoir #2 is now Lake Fontaine and Reservoir #3 is now Lake Hickman. Lake Fontaine derives its name from the nearby road Fontaine Road. The name Lake Hickman comes from the creek that was dammed to create the lake. These names have been approved by the US Board on Geographic Names.
Lake Fontaine can be found in the database here.
Lake Hickman can be found in the database here.
A press release dated 20 August, 2015 can be found here.
History
The lakes were built in the late 1800s and early 1900s in order to provide water to the city of Lexington. The lakes were sold to private developers in 1964 when they were no longer needed for the water supply.
As each lake was dug, an earthen dam was created for it. The dam along Alumni Drive was reconstructed in 1978 when homes were approved for construction behind it. The current dam consists of a concrete weir and an adjacent earthen dam. Water flowing over the dam flows into the West Hickman Creek.
The following booklet is provided courtesy of Kentucky-American Water Company.
The Kentucky-American Water Company 1885-1985 booklet in PDF format:
