Little Lake is a small lake on the Otonabee River in the city of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. The lake is in the downtown of the city and is used for fishing, swimming, boating, and for various special events. The lake lies on the water route from Lake Ontario to the Kawartha Lakes. The area around the lake was first settled by Europeans around the start of the 19th century. Steam- and water-powered saw mills were built on the lake and on the river upstream to prepare lumber for shipment overseas. Sawdust and other debris from the mills polluted the lake, killed the fish and clogged up the navigable channels. The smell was so noxious it drove residents near the lake to move. These problems were resolved by the end of the century, when the lake became a hub on the new Trent-Severn Waterway from Lake Ontario to Lake Huron. However, industries attracted by cheap hydroelectric power, such as General Electric used the lake for disposal of industrial chemicals for many years. The pollutants seems to be mostly contained in the sediment, and the lake is now considered safe for recreational use.
Location
Peterborough is about north of Lake Ontario and south of the Kawartha Lakes. The Otonabee River flows down from the Kawartha Lakes through Peterborough, where it is joined by Jackson creek at Little Lake, and continues south to Rice Lake. From there the Trent River leads to Lake Ontario. The Otonabee River drops by from Katchewanooka Lake to Little Lake. The Trent Canal leaves the Otonabee River upstream from Little Lake and runs parallel to the river, then rejoins it in Little Lake. With the Otonabee to the west and the canal to the east, the district of Peterborough known as East City is an island.
Little Lake is a natural reservoir that was created in the last ice age. It is at . It has an area of about . The land around the lake has a variety of uses, including residential and commercial, parkland and open space. The Little Lake Cemetery extends into the south of the lake. Notable people buried there include the Member of Upper Canada Legislature Alexander McDonell and poet Isabella Valancy Crawford (1853–1887). The cemetery has the grave of the weightlifter Daniel Macdonald. The stone says, Ye weak beware, here lies the strong, A victim of his strength, He lifted sixteen hundred pounds, and here he lies at length.
Activities
Little Lake is used for swimming, fishing and boating, including power boats, kayaks, canoes and windsurfers. Anglers may catch bass, walleye, perch and muskie in the lake. There is a small marina on the lake in downtown Peterborough with 92 open slips where boats may be moored on a daily, weekly or seasonal basis. The marina is operated by the municipality. In Crary Park Marina the Otonabee River discharges into the lake, and Jackson Creek discharges .
The lake is used for special events such as wakeboarding, dragon boating, the Peterborough triathlon and the Festival of Lights. City-owned parkland around the lake includes Beavermead Park (), Roger’s Cove Park (), Del Crary Park (), Millennium Park (),James Stevenson Park (). Del Crary Park includes an outdoor performance stage beside the Art Gallery of Peterborough. Beavermead Park was once owned by John A. Macdonald, the first Prime Minister of Canada. It takes its name from Beaver Creek and Meades Creek, which flow through the park.
History
Samuel de Champlain is thought to have launched his canoe in Little Lake, travelling down from there to Rice Lake and the Trent River. In 1818 Adam Scott built a sawmill and grist-mill on the south edge of Little Lake. Scott Plains would eventually grow to become the city of Peterborough. The first British settlers arrived early in the 19th century. They travelled overland to Rice Lake, then up the Otonabee to Scott's Plains. From Little Lake they reached the Kawarthas either by continuing up the Otonabee past what is now Lakefield, or by portaging northwest to Chemong Lake. The wife of one of the first settlers came with her family to the area in the winter of 1822–23. She wrote,