Lake Gregory is a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

in the

San Bernardino National Forest The San Bernardino National Forest is a United States national forest in Southern California encompassing of which are federal. The forest is made up of two main divisions, the eastern portion of the San Gabriel Mountains and the San Bernar ...

of the

San Bernardino Mountains The San Bernardino Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in Southern California in the United States. Situated north and northeast of San Bernardino and spanning two California counties, the range tops out at at San Gorgonio Mountain ...

San Bernardino County, California San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is locat ...

. The lake and the surrounding area make up the Lake Gregory Regional Park adjacent to

Crestline, California Crestline is a census-designated place in the San Bernardino Mountains of San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 11,650 at the 2020 census, up from 10,770 at the 2010 census. Geography According to the United States ...

. The area, originally known as Houston Flat, was developed by and named for its developer, Redlands citrus grower Arthur Gregory, Sr. Gregory bought and developed land in an area known today as Valley of the Moon. He erected a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

at Valley of the Moon to cut wood for crating his "Orange Blossom" brand of

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

fruit. Gregory was also instrumental in creating the Crest Forest County

Water District A water district is a Special-purpose district, special district given the task of supplying water and sewer needs to a community. This term is commonly used in the United States. See also * Irrigation district * Drinking water supply and sanit ...

(CFCWD), which, in turn, was necessary to acquire federal aid in order to develop the area. Although the lake is in Crestline proper, Crestline is not a part of the Crest Forest District, but rather the Crestline Water District, which purchases water from CFCWD. Work began in 1937 under a

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

(WPA) grant to dam the east and west forks of Houston Creek, whose waters drained into

tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...

of the

Mojave River The Mojave River is an intermittent river in the eastern San Bernardino Mountains and the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Most of its flow is underground, while its surface channels remain dry most of the ti ...

, thereby "going to waste". The project was nearly completed by March 1938, but federal funds had run out. Gregory financed the completion of the project, lending money to the district for the completion. The eventual cost was US$225,000, of which US$160,000 came from the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

, with the balance funded by the water district. Heavy rains that March put the dam to its first test. It had been estimated that it would take three years to fill the lake. So heavy were the rains that the lake filled in only three days. An unconfirmed, but plausible

urban legend Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...

claims that the construction equipment left on the lake bed in 1938 during the rains remains at the bottom of the lake today. A road built over the dam (present-day Lake Drive) completed the project in January 1939. Today, the Lake Gregory Recreational Park with swimming and water slides is at the west end of the lake and a walking trail encircles the lake. The south shore of the lake is a popular fishing destination. The regional park is the site of Crestline's

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

celebration. The southeast shore is the site of the private beach and

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

ean-styled clubhouse of the San Moritz Lodge, once known as Club San Moritz. The original club was built in the Valley of the Moon in 1926 along the shore of now-drained Moon Lake, today the site of Lake Gregory Community Church. A fire of suspicious origin destroyed the building in 1950 and the lake was drained in the early 1960s over increasing problems with

mosquito Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mos ...

es. The new club, built along Lake Gregory in 1950, was intended to be a members-only resort and club for property owners in the area. Today, the only remaining buildings are the restaurant, used as the site of special events such as weddings, and a bathhouse, now used as a senior center. Private vessels and power boats are not allowed on Lake Gregory, although rowboats, paddle boards, pedal-powered "water trikes" and paddle boats are available for rental. The rowboats may be affixed with the renter's own electric trolling motor. From 2011 to 2013, the park experienced operating losses of $1.4 million. In 2014, the San Bernardino County partnered with The California Parks Company, now named Basecamp Hospitality, after six years of decline due to the flagging economy. In 2018, San Bernardino County put the concessionaire contract up for bid to find a new managing company for Lake Gregory. Basecamp Hospitality won the bid as the only concessionaire applying, but struggled to come to financial terms with the longterm contract and renewed a two-year agreement instead. In 2019, San Bernardino County ended its relationship with Basecamp Hospitality. The

California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, commonly referred to as OEHHA (pronounced oh-EEE-ha), is a specialized department within the cabinet-level California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) with responsibility for evaluati ...

(OEHHA) has developed
safe eating advisory
for Lake Gregory based on levels of mercury found in fish caught from this water body.

References

* *
San Bernardino Mountains Early History from californiamountains.net, Jan. 06, 2011
*http://www.sbsun.com/lifestyle/20140323/lake-gregory-getting-new-water-play-structure-seasonal-pass-varieties

External links

Official Lake Gregory Park page

The California Parks Company
{{authority control San Bernardino Mountains Gregory 1937 establishments in California Works Progress Administration in California San Bernardino National Forest Gregory Gregory Gregory