Geneva Lake
Template:Short description Template:About {{#invoke:other uses|otheruses}} Template:Infobox body of water
Geneva Lake (Potawatomi: Kishwauketoe 'Clear Water')<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> is a body of freshwater in Walworth County in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Wisconsin.<ref name = DNR>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On its shores are the city of Lake Geneva and the villages of Fontana-on-Geneva-Lake and Williams Bay. The lake covers an area of approximately Template:Convert,<ref name = DNR/> with a maximum length of Template:Convert,<ref name = DNR/> a mean depth of Template:Convert,<ref name = DNR/> and a maximum depth of Template:Convert.<ref name = DNR/> Geologists believe that it is a filled-in kettle formed from a receding glacier.Template:Citation needed
HistoryEdit
Geneva Lake was home to a band of Prairie Potawatomi prior to colonial settlement. During the first three decades of the nineteenth century, the band was led by Big Foot.Template:Citation needed This led the settlers on Geneva Lake to refer to it as Big Foot Lake.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
In the 1830s, a government surveyor named John Brink renamed the lake and the town on it for Geneva, New York, another lakeside town which he thought they resembled.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> To avoid confusion with the nearby town of Geneva, Illinois, the city was renamed Lake Geneva; later,Template:When the lake was renamed Geneva Lake.Template:Citation needed
The lake is known as the only place in the world where mail jumping is practiced, an unusual mail delivery system maintained as a local tradition.
Attractions and public accessEdit
Lakeshore attractions include Big Foot Beach State Park, Lake Geneva Yacht Club, the George Williams College campus of Aurora University, and Yerkes Observatory. The observatory is no longer owned by the University of Chicago, which transferred ownership of it to the non-profit Yerkes Future Foundation in May 2020.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Public access to the lake is allowed as the result of a decision by early European settlers that "20 feet [6 meters] of land leading up to the shoreline should be public domain."<ref name="ChicagoTribune" /><ref name="LGACVB" /><ref name="DLGBID" />
A shorepath, which is open to the public, completely surrounds the lake.<ref name = "ChicagoTribune">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="LGACVB">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="DLGBID">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Between Template:Convert long,<ref name = "LGACVB"/><ref name = "DLGBID"/><ref name = "ChicagoTribune"/> it follows the route taken by Potawatomi Indians.<ref name = "ChicagoTribune"/> The path crosses the estates of the Schwinns, Swifts, Wackers, and Wrigleys.<ref name = "ChicagoTribune"/>
- Geneva Lake Shorepath Sign 1.jpg
Geneva Lake Shorepath sign
- Yacht Racing On Lake Geneva (NBY 428822).jpg
Yacht Racing On Lake Geneva, postcard
- Untitled - Resorts (NBY 697).jpg
Olivet Camp, postcard
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Geneva Lake West Chamber of Commerce
- {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }} Template:Small, report by USGS with history and environmental info.