The old gatehouse at Antietam Lake

[SLUFDRIVER]

She's slowly crumbling from years of neglect.

[rogprov]

Nice photo, but do tell a bit more about the gatehouse's history.

[SLUFDRIVER]

Well, the lake was built by the City of Reading in 1880 as a future source of drinking water for the city. It eventually became more of a recreation facility, although boating was never allowed that I'm aware of. It still has great native trout fishing, and the water is of quite decent quality, being spring fed. The city and county (Berks) started feuding over who has actual title to the wooded preserve surrounding it, some of which dates back to Wm Penn and his family. As a sad side effect, the facility has fallen into a poor state of maintainance. The latest insult is that the city is attempting to sell a substancial portion of the land to a private developer who wants to build around 200 homes in the area. Most of the public is fighting this, but I cannot promise how it will end.

The gate house controlled an underwater valve that could release excess water into the stream at the base of the breastwork. It interesting to note that parts of the breast are natural stone formations, with the man made bits above.

Thanks for your interest!
JJ