:Lake James
{{about|the lake in North Carolina, US|the lake in Indiana, US|Lake James (Indiana)|the lake in Manitoba, Canada|Lake James (Manitoba)}}
{{more citations needed|date = August 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox body of water
| name = Lake James
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| image = Mountain sky over Lake James. Lake James, May, 2010 (4904722403).jpg
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| caption = Lake James in May 2010
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| location = Burke / McDowell counties, North Carolina, United States
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| coordinates = {{coord|35|44|36|N|81|53|04|W|region:US-NC_type:waterbody|display =inline,title}}
| type = reservoir
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| catchment = {{convert|387|sqmi}}
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| agency = Duke Energy
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| date-built = {{Start date|1916|08|}}{{cite web |title=A century of hydro energy on Lake James |url=https://illumination.duke-energy.com/articles/a-century-of-hydro-energy-on-lake-james |accessdate=9 December 2019}}
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| date-flooded = {{Start date|1919|05|}}
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| area = {{convert|6812|acre}}
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| elevation = {{convert|1200|ft}}
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| pushpin_map = North Carolina#USA
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| pushpin_map_alt = Location of Lake Mattamuskeet in North Carolina, USA.
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Lake James is a large reservoir in the mountains of Western North Carolina which straddles the border between Burke and McDowell Counties. It is named for tobacco tycoon and benefactor of Duke University James Buchanan Duke. The lake, with surface elevation of 1200 ft (366 m), lies behind a series of 3 earthen dams. It was created by Duke Power between 1916 and 1923 as a hydro-electric project.{{Cite web |url=http://www.ncparks.gov/Visit/parks/laja/main.php |title=NC Division of Parks and Recreation: Lake James State Park |access-date=2009-04-28 |archive-date=2015-09-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905182413/http://www.ncparks.gov/Visit/parks/laja/main.php |url-status=dead }} It still generates power today and is the uppermost lake on the Catawba River system.
History
Lake James is the product of an effort in the early 1900s led by James B. Duke to create a system of dams and reservoirs on the Catawba River in North Carolina's Piedmont with the intention of electrifying the region.{{cite web |url=https://www.duke-energy.com/our-company/about-us/our-history |title=Our History |website=Duke Energy |access-date=3 October 2022}} The reservoir was sited at the confluence of the Catawba River, which has its headwaters in the mountains near the unincorporated community of Linville Falls (North Fork) and on the eastern slope of the Eastern Continental Divide, and the Linville River, which gets its start on the slopes of Grandfather Mountain and carves the Linville Gorge after tumbling over Linville Falls north of the lake. The reservoir is also fed by several smaller flows, including Paddy's Creek (sometimes Paddy Creek), which lends it name to a campground, boat launch, and a portion of Lake James State Park that is home to a sandy beach swimming area.{{cite web |url=https://www.ncparks.gov/state-parks/lake-james-state-park |title=Lake James State Park |publisher=N.C. Division of Parks & Recreation |website=N.C. Parks |access-date=3 October 2022}}
Work on the earthen works that created the reservoir began in 1916 and completion of the impoundment came in 1923. The flooding of the lake claimed a portion of the small farming community of Fonta Flora, which was spread between the fertile river valley and the surrounding low hills.{{cite web |url=https://www.appalachianhistory.net/2021/02/fonta-flore-blue-ridge-atlantis.html |title=Fonta Flora: Blue Ridge Atlantis |last=Fullwood |first=Valaida |date=2 February 2021 |website=Appalachian History.net |access-date=3 October 2022}}
In the century since the creation of the lake, local residents created a mythology about Fonta Flora that includes claims it is possible to dive to buildings still standing under the waters of the lake and even that portions of those structures are visible when the lake's water level is low.{{cite web |url=https://www.ourstate.com/appalachian-atlantis-the-lost-mountain-utopia-of-fonta-flora/ |title=Appalachian Atlantis: The Lost Mountain Utopia of Fonta Flora |last=Reuben |first=Aaron |date=30 September 2019 |website=Our State |access-date=3 October 2022}} However, there is little evidence any significant structures remained in the portion of the valley that was flooded.{{cite web |url=https://www.lakejamesstatepark.org/news/2016/09/centennial-spotlight-fonta-flora |title=Centennial Spotlight: Fonta Flora |date=9 September 2016 |website=Friends of Lake James State Park |access-date=3 October 2022}}
Today, the Fonta Flora name is memorialized or perpetuated in several ways in the area, including in branding of an eponymous brewery located in nearby Morganton and with the Fonta Flora State Trail, which follows the shore of Lake James in the area where the community once stood.{{cite web |url=https://trails.nc.gov/state-trails/fonta-flora-state-trail |title=Fonta Flora State Trail |publisher=North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources |website=North Carolina Trails |access-date=3 October 2022}} The hiking and biking trail, which is still under construction, is intended to eventually connect Morganton to Asheville.
Development
Lake James contains {{convert|10.2|sqmi|km2}} of surface area and more than {{convert|150|mi|km}} of shoreline. Housing development on the lake has been considerable since the 1980s, and is concentrated on its southern and eastern shores.Western Piedmont Council of Governments Economic Indicators Newsletter Fall 2006 Most of the non-developed area around Lake James is owned by Crescent Communities, a real estate developer founded in the 1960s and formerly a subsidiary of Duke Energy.{{cite news |last=Portillo |first=Ely |date=13 October 2019 |title=Why a major Charlotte developer is selling itself to a Japanese forestry company |url=https://www.charlotteobserver.com/charlottefive/c5-worklife/article236141113.html |work=The Charlotte Observer |access-date=3 October 2022}}
In 1999, several bald eagles were found nesting in trees on the northeastern shore of Lake James, stopping housing development in their vicinity.US Fish and Wildlife Service American Bald Eagle Habitat Conservation Plan for the Lake James Project Burke and McDowell Counties, North Carolina [http://www.fws.gov/nc-es/birds/lakejameseaglehcp.pdf] A small species of invasive jellyfish also lives in its waters.Gary Peeples, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Southern Appalachian Creature Feature Podcasts, Freshwater Jellyfish, 2008 [http://www.fws.gov/Asheville/htmls/podcast_transcripts/freshwater_jellyfish.html]
1780 and Old Wildlife Club can only have 1 home per {{convert|5|acre|m2}}. Roughly {{convert|72|mi|km}} of the {{convert|150|mi|km}} of shoreline will never be developed. These developments include Black Forest, Dry Creek, 1780 and Old Wildlife Club. Black Forest is {{convert|600|acre|km2}} and could have included 1200 homesites, but has only 54. Dry Creek is around {{convert|400|acre|km2}} and was supposed to have 600 homesites, but has only 64.
Attractions
Lake James State Park is located on the lake's southern shore. It is the first of North Carolina's state parks to which funds were appropriated for land acquisition and park development from the outset.{{cite web |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/lake-james-state-park |title=Lake James State Park |last=Agan |first=Kelly |date=2015 |website=NCPedia |access-date=3 October 2022}} Crescent Resources (now Crescent Communities) worked with the State of North Carolina and Foothills Conservancy of NC in 2004 to expand the state park, adding {{convert|3000|acre|km2}} to the park's original {{convert|605|acre|km2}}. This now represents North Carolina's largest waterfront state park.{{cite web |title=Lake James State Park |url=https://www.ncparks.gov/lake-james-state-park |website=North Carolina State Parks |accessdate=19 June 2018}}
Meetings of many of the Lake James area's housing associations are held at nearby Saint Paul's Episcopal Church.
In 1992 Lake James was a filming site for the Daniel Day-Lewis movie The Last of the Mohicans, where it doubled as Lake George, New York and a replica of Fort William Henry was constructed. A backdrop of Lake James was used for the final scenes of the movie The Hunt for Red October.
In the fall of 2006, the first of {{convert|3.5|mi|km}} of new pathways on the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail (OVNHT) was certified by the National Park Service. The trail, which received its historic designation from President Jimmy Carter in 1980, commemorates the march of the "Overmountain Men," a patriot militia who defeated the British at the Battle of Kings Mountain during the Revolutionary War. The new section of the trail runs through the 1780 community, which is named after the year the militia marched through the Lake James area. Plans have been discussed to connect the OVNHT to the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.
Lake James allows jet skis, and encourages fishing and camping in designated areas.