Grand Lake St. Marys State Park

Time of its construction the largest artificial lake in the world

The Grand Lake St. Marys (official but rarely used name: Grand Lake, literally " Great Lake " ) is an artificial lake in the county Mercer and Auglaize, Ohio, United States.

History

The lake was created as a reservoir for the Miami - Erie Canal near the eponymous town of St. Mary's from 1837. When he was finished in 1845, he was with an area of 54 km ² of area 's largest man -made lake in the world.

After it was discovered in the 1890s in the area of oil, stood a few rigs in the lake, which is rarely deeper than 1.5 to 2 m.

1949, decorated with the Grand Lake and some other reservoir lakes of the Miami - Erie Canal, the first Ohio state parks. With 2.4 km ², the proportion of the land area of Grand Lake St. Marys State Park is relatively small.

Today, the state park is used as a recreation area, lake, there are 210 campsites.