Youghiogheny River Lake

The Youghiogheny River Lake is a flood control reservoir that is located in southwestern Pennsylvania and western Maryland. It is a significant tourist attraction that brings in more than one million visitors a year to the area.^[3]

Youghiogheny River Lake
The Yoghiogheny River Lake as viewed from below the Youghiogheny Dam
Youghiogheny River Lake Show map of Pennsylvania Youghiogheny River Lake Show map of Maryland Youghiogheny River Lake Show map of the United States
Location	Fayette / Somerset counties, Pennsylvania, and Garrett County, Maryland
Coordinates	39°47′52″N 079°22′09″W
Type	reservoir
Primary inflows	Youghiogheny River
Primary outflows	Youghiogheny River
Basin countries	United States
Max. length	16 miles (26 km)[1]
Surface area	4.4 sq mi (11 km2)
Water volume	149,300 acre⋅ft (0.1842 km3) Normal
Surface elevation	1,440 ft (440 m)[2]

History and notable features

This lake was formed in 1944 by the damming of the Youghiogheny River upstream from Confluence, Pennsylvania.^[3]

The Youghiogheny Dam is an earthen structure, 184 feet (56 m) high and 1,610 feet (490 m) long at its crest, that is owned and operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.^[4]

The reservoir's normal surface area is approximately 4.4 square miles (11 km²), and it has a maximum capacity of 300,000 acre-feet (370,000,000 m³), although its normal storage level is 149,300 acre-feet (184,200,000 m³).^[4]

The dam facilitates flood control, improves river flow and provides twelve megawatts of hydroelectric power.^[1]

U.S. Route 40 crosses the lake between Jockey Hollow on the Fayette County side and Somerfield on the Somerset County side.^[5]

Somerfield was laid out on the western edge of Addison Township, Somerset County circa 1816 by Philip D. Smyth, who originally named the settlement Smythfield.^[6] Somerfield was abandoned, razed, and inundated when the reservoir was filled during the 1940s.

The stone Great Crossings Bridge of the National Road, which crossed the Youghiogheny at Somerfield, is visible at extremely low water levels.^[7] The triple-arch sandstone bridge was constructed between 1815 and 1818 by James Kinkead, James Beck, and Evan Evans.^[7][8]

Gallery

• 
  Somerfield, 1860 (note orientation of map: north at bottom)

References

1. Youghiogheny River Lake at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Youghiogheny River Lake
3. Palmer, Tim (1984). Youghiogheny, Appalachian River. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-82293-495-0.
4. United States Department of the Interior Geological Survey (1968). Water Resources Data for Pennsylvania: Part 1 Surface Water Records. Harrisburg: United States Geological Survey. p. 248.
5. "Youghiogheny River Lake Project Map". Pittsburgh District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
6. History of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties, Pennsylvania. Chicago: Waterman, Watkins & Co. 1884. p. 572.
7. Lowry, Patricia (January 7, 1999). "A bridge to the 19th century: Falling water-level of Youghiogheny unearths ghost town, historical crossing". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
8. Heberling, Scott D. (2010). Historic Bridges of Somerset County, Pennsylvania (PDF). Harrisburg, PA: Pennsylvania Dept. of Transportation. p. 7.