The historical marker for Sylvan Lake reads,
Created 1837-1838 as reservoir for proposed canal link between Fort Wayne and Lake Michigan. Part of 1836 internal improvements program. Popular resort area; site of Chautauqua, 1878-1906. Provided hydraulic power. Earthen dam on Elkhart River impounds 630 acres of water.
In other words, Sylvan Lake is old—very old—by artificial lake standards. Lake Mead, for example, created with the completion of Hoover Dam in 1936, is 100 years younger than Sylvan Lake. However, Sylvan Lake is in its infancy when compared with the oldest lake—natural or artificial—in North America. Located north of Napa and Sonoma counties in California, Clear Lake (or the area around it) is believed to be about 2.5 million years old, depending on the source. As this article explains, “While Clear Lake is only estimated at about a half a million years old, geologists figure that lakes have existed on this particular patch of land for nearly 2.5 million years.”
Another contender—Lake Tahoe—for oldest lake in North America was put forth by Winnie Kortemeier, a professor of geosciences at Western Nevada College in Carson City, when she presented research at the Geological Society of America’s annual meeting in 2024, saying that Lake Tahoe is at least 2.3 million years old.
In any case, this article is about Indiana’s oldest artificial lake, Sylvan Lake. Let’s dive into its history.
Indiana’s Sylvan Lake traces its origins to the 1820s, making it the oldest reservoir, man-made, or artificial lake in the state. Pictured is a house on one of the many islands in the lake.
History of Sylvan Lake
“[Sylvan Lake] appears more as a winding river than a lake, opening up into wide basins, then narrowing until the opposite shores almost touch. In no place is it more than three-quarters of a mile wide, while it is fully five miles long,” writes Anna Caseley, who in 1911 wrote “History of Sylvan Lake and Vicinity” as a student at Kendallville High School (3). This paper appears to be the most comprehensive history of the lake. (Note: There is a copy of the paper located at the Allen County Public Library in the genealogy section. Highly recommend reading it.)
The lake’s beginnings can be traced to the 1826-27 legislative session in which the state government “authorized an internal improvement company” with the intention “to build the Wabash, Erie and Michigan Canal in 1827” (6). The resulting reservoir was created with the impounding of an unnamed tributary of the Elkhart or North Branch River. Today, the Rome City Conservancy District owns and operates it. (Note: Caseley’s paper cites the 1826-27 legislature, and another article, mentioned below, says 1836-37.)
According to Caseley’s paper, the reservoir was completed in 1839 at which point “the streams and springs in the valley above arose in their liquid purity and filled the great Reservoir, which was to serve as a feeder to the dam” (7). The earthen embankment dam, achieved through compacted soil, stretches 2,730 feet across and is 30 feet high with a max depth of 36 feet.
The canal and dam, however, were never completed as envisioned. “On January 10, 1845, there was a script issued to complete the dam,” Caseley writes. “The great revulsions in financial circles of that day stopped the work, however, and there only remains the Reservoir at Rome City and an unfinished, partially ruined canal bed, extending some three miles southward” (7).
The name Sylvan Lake came about in 1883 for reasons that I could not find an explanation. Work ceased on the canal on August 20, 1846, after which “a commissioner conveyed to the state of Indiana a tract of land containing about five acres, contigous [sic] to the dam, to enable the state to use the water power created by the dam” (7). This article recounts a 1949 meeting of the Albion Rotary Club in which Dr. Leland Frurip, a Kendallville dentist and Noble County auditor, gave a talk about how the dam was used to power early mills around the lake.
A reprint of a 1925 hand-drawn map with cottage sites, depth contours, and adjacent topography identified by the Indiana Department of Conservation is available on Amazon.
Sylvan Lake Fun
As the largest lake of 117 in Noble County, Sylvan Lake lacks nothing in terms of recreation. The all-season lake has 16 miles of shoreline and more than 669 acres of crystal-clear water. Rome City is a quaint town of about 1,500 people, and this part of the country “has aptly been called the garden spot of Hoosierdom…for it was here and hereabouts that nature was most lavish with its gifts of soil and scenery,” writes Caseley (1).
Pictured is one of the formal gardens at the Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site, which comprises 148 acres of lakefront property.
©Chad Kelham/Shutterstock.com
Water-Enthusiast’s Paradise
If your preferred activity involves water—whether boating, fishing, swimming, or other—Sylvan Lake promises to deliver all year long.
“The water is clear and cold,” Caseley writes, “fed by never failing springs.” Even in 1911, the lake was well-stocked with bass, pike, and perch. Today, both the amateur and experienced angler heads to Sylvan Lake to fish for largemouth bass, crappie, northern pike, and walleye in the spring and fall months when fishing for those species tends to be best and bluegill and catfish during summer. Ice fishing, especially for panfish, during the winter draws the more committed fishermen. Of course, success can depend quite a bit on the weather, water temperature, and fish behavior.
Summer lake temperatures typically reach 70-80° F. Spring and fall see the temperatures in the 50-70° F range. Of course, the temperature drops considerably in winter, hovering just above freezing.
The Big Island
Nope, we’re not in Hawaii. Sylvan Lake’s big island is a 110-acre Indiana paradise. After a fundraising campaign, the Sylvan Lake Improvement Association (SLIA) purchased the island to preserve its natural flora and fauna and protect it from commercial development. The big island—or Park Island, according to Caseley’s paper (7)—features public docks, nature walking trails, a pavilion for shelter, and even church services (which generally start in June).
Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site
History and literary buffs and nature enthusiasts will appreciate the 148-acre lakefront home and property that once belonged to Sylvan Lake’s most famous resident: Gene Stratton-Porter. Writer, nature photographer, and naturalist, Stratton-Porter is Indiana’s most famous female writer. The Gene Stratton-Porter Historic Site features fields, woods, and formal gardens as well as the cabin in which she lived, wrote, and photographed.
Where Is Sylvan Lake Located on a Map?
Sylvan Lake is located in Rome City, Indiana, a small town in Noble County, which is found in the northeastern part of the state. Fort Wayne is a 45-minute drive south, and to the west about 60 miles is South Bend.
