Beebe Lake (Ithaca)
United States · Americas
About
Beebe Lake /bibi/ is a reservoir in Ithaca, New York, located on the campus of Cornell University. The shallow lake impounds Fall Creek; it has a surface area of roughly 17 acres (6.9 ha) and contains roughly 53 million gallons of water. Most of the land surrounding the lake is a forested preserve managed by the Cornell Botanic Gardens, including one man-made island.
Beebe Lake was initially created in 1838 by the damming of Fall Creek and enlarged in 1898. It has been dredged several times, notably in 1988 and 2000. Throughout the early 20th-century, the lake was a popular site of winter recreation activities, including ice skating and toboggan slide rides. Beebe Lake also hosted games of the Cornell Big Red men's ice hockey team in their early years.
In the first half of the 20th century, the east end of Beebe Lake was a popular site for swimming; however, the swimming hole was closed in 1969 and swimming remains prohibited. The trails around the lake are used for hiking, jogging, and walking; the lake itself is the site of canoeing and kayaking. Water from Beebe Lake also supplies Cornell's hydroelectric plant.
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.