Leaser Lake is a man-made lake located near the village of

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

in Lynn Township,

Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Lehigh County (; Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Lechaa Kaundi'') is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the coun ...

. The lake is owned by the Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and managed by the

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is an independent state agency responsible for the regulation of all fishing and boating in the state of Pennsylvania within the United States of America. Unlike many U.S. states, Pennsylvania has a sepa ...

(PFBC). The lake was built for recreational use and opened to the public in 1971. It is the only lake in Lehigh County. The lake is part of a 540 acre park which is owned in part by the PFBC and in part by Lehigh County. The lake covers 117 acres and is 45 feet deep. The lake is created by a dam located on the Jacksonville Branch of the

Ontelaunee Creek Ontelaunee Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of Maiden Creek in Berks County, Pennsylvania in the United States.Gertler, Edward. ''Keystone ...

which is a tributary of

Maiden Creek Maiden Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Schuylkill River in Berks County, Pennsylvania.Gertler, Edward. ''Keystone Canoeing'', ...

. The dam consists of an earth embankment, approximately 430 feet long by 53 feet high, and the top of the dam is 24 feet wide.

History

The lake is named after American patriot

Frederick Leaser Frederick Leaser (1738–1810) was a Pennsylvanian German farmer, Patriot (American Revolution), patriot and soldier from Lynn Township, Pennsylvania, Lynn in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. During the American Revolutionary War, he transported the L ...

, who during the Revolutionary War in September 1777, transported the

Liberty Bell The Liberty Bell, previously called the State House Bell or Old State House Bell, is an iconic symbol of American Revolution, American independence located in Philadelphia. Originally placed in the steeple of Pennsylvania State House, now know ...

from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, then the revolutionary capital of the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America. The Thirteen C ...

Allentown Allentown may refer to: Places * Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California * Allentown, Georgia, a city in four counties in Georgia * Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Tazewell County * Allentown, New Jersey, a boroug ...

to protect it from the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

as they were preparing to seize to Philadelphia. While in route, the wagon carrying the bell broke down and the bell was then transferred to Leaser's wagon to complete the journey to Zion Reformed Church in Allentown. Leaser's home was in what is now known as Lynn Township. Leaser Lake dam has had a seepage problem since it was first filled. In 1991, the

drained the lake to make needed repairs on the dam. The 1991 repairs proved to be inadequate and in 1999 the lake had to be drained 20 feet to prevent dam failure. In 2008-2009, the lake was once again drained to rebuild the dam and spillway. Shortly after the lake was reopened, seepage was once again discovered which prevented the lake from being completely filled. The new seepage location was not where the dam's last $3.5 million rebuilding project had taken place. In September 2014, the lake was lowered by 20 feet so that repairs could be made to the recent seeping area. Repairs to the dam were completed in Spring 2015 and the lake was filled to capacity for the first time since 1991.

Primary fish

Bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or, in Texas, "copper nose", is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and wetlands ea ...

Brown Bullhead The brown bullhead (''Ameiurus nebulosus'') is a fish of the family Ictaluridae that is widely distributed in North America. It is a species of bullhead catfish and is similar to the black bullhead (''Ameiurus melas'') and yellow bullhead (' ...

Chain Pickerel The chain pickerel (''Esox niger'') is a species of freshwater fish in the pike family (biology), family (family Esocidae) of order (biology), order Esociformes. The chain pickerel and the American pickerel (''E. americanus'') belong to the ''Esox ...

Large Mouth Bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus nigricans'') is a carnivorous, freshwater, ray-finned fish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico. It is known by a va ...

Muskellunge The muskellunge (''Esox masquinongy''), often shortened to muskie, musky, ski, or lunge, is a species of large freshwater predatory fish native to North America. It is the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae. Origin of name The name ...

Rainbow Trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...

Yellow Perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samuel Latham Mitchill fr ...

References

{{Reflist Artificial lakes of the United States Bodies of water of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania