John D. Long Lake facts for kids
Quick facts for kids John D. Long Lake |
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 John D. Long Lake
Location in South Carolina
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| Location | Union County, South Carolina |
| Coordinates | 34°46′30″N 81°30′44.4″W / 34.77500°N 81.512333°W |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface area | 80 acres (0.32 km2) |
| Max. depth | 80 ft (24 m) |
| Surface elevation | 440 ft (130 m) |
John D. Long Lake is a beautiful lake in Union County, South Carolina. It's a man-made lake, meaning people built it! It covers about 80-acre (32 ha) of land. This lake is a popular spot for fishing. You can find different kinds of fish here, like largemouth bass, bluegill, shellcracker (redear sunfish), and catfish. There's even a special boat ramp and a fishing pier for everyone to use.
Where is John D. Long Lake?
This lake is located in a pretty area of South Carolina. It's about 3 miles (4.8 km) west of a town called Lockhart. It's also about 7 miles (11 km) northeast of the city of Union.
Surrounding Nature and Water Flow
John D. Long Lake is surrounded by lots of trees. You'll see poplars, black gum trees, and loblolly pines. In the 2010s, cedar trees were also planted, adding to the green scenery.
A creek called Hughes Creek is very important to the lake. It flows into the lake from the south, filling it up. Then, it flows out of the lake, also to the south, and eventually reaches the Broad River. The lake sits at an elevation of 440 feet (130 m) above sea level, and some parts of it are quite deep, over 80 feet (24 m)!
Getting to the Lake
Several roads can take you to John D. Long Lake. South Carolina Highway 49 passes just south of the lake. This highway connects Union and Lockhart. South Carolina Highway 105 starts near the lake and heads north. Also, South Carolina Highway 9 is about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of the lake.
To get to the western side of the lake, where the fishing pier and boat ramp are, you can take Black Bottom Road. This road connects to Highway 9. If you want to visit the eastern side, you can use John D. Long Lake Road, which connects to Highway 49. This road leads to a small park area near the dam, which used to be where the boat ramp was located.
How John D. Long Lake Was Created
John D. Long Lake was built in the 1970s. It was the idea of a state senator named John David Long III. He named the lake after his father, John David Long, who was also a state senator.
My late father...always wanted a place to fish, and after I got some seniority in the Senate, I could get enough money for the lake, so I got it and named it in his honor.
Senator John David Long III shared that his father always wanted a place to fish. Once he had enough influence in the Senate, he was able to get the money needed to build the lake and named it to honor his father. To create the lake, a large earthen dam was built across a pasture on Hughes Creek, allowing the water to fill up the area.
Lake Renovation and Reopening
On July 1, 2013, the lake was temporarily closed for two years. The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources decided to renovate and restore it. The main reason was that the fish populations were out of balance. There were too many largemouth bass, which made it hard for other fish like bream to thrive.
To fix this, the state team carefully stunned the bass and moved them to other places. They also drained the lake, cut down some trees, and planted new ones. To help the bluegill and shellcracker fish lay their eggs, they added about 635.7 short tons (576,700 kg) of gravel to create special spawning grounds.
After all this hard work, the lake was refilled with water. It officially reopened for fishing on July 1, 2015, and later, catfish were introduced to the lake as well. Now, it's a great place for everyone to enjoy fishing again!
