To Drain a Lake . . .

Mirror Lake from the 1894 plat of Providence Forge

PROVIDENCE FORGE LAKE

Talk of Draining a Beautiful and Historic Body of Water. 

(Special Dispatch to The Times.)

PROVIDENCE FORGE, VA., October 5-

There has been considerable talk lately and some little excitement over the question of draining the water from the mill pond at this place since the mill has been in disuse for so long, but let us hope that the persons who suggested such a thing may, discover their mistake before it is too late.

A more beautiful lake of water could scarcely be found in Eastern Virginia. It flows in some two miles from the west, making a grand water power, deep, clear and abounding in the most delicious of pike, chub and perch. Its shores are clothed with majestic cypress trees, that judging from their huge trunks must have been loafing around these shores when Pocahontas frequented the banks of the Chickahominy river that is only a short distance away, and where the water of this lake, after passing under the mill bridge empties.

Not only does the beauty of this lake appeal to one, but its historical connections with the mill and old iron forge make it exceedingly interesting.

Away back in colonial day the two labored side by side, driven by the water from the lake. Tradition says the forge was destroyed during the Revolutionary War. However the case may be, for many, many years it lay entirely concealed from view in the soft earth along side the mill. By accident it was discovered and the trip hammer and some specimens of pig iron were unearthed, and may be seen at this day nearby.

The mill, until within the last few years, has ground on as merrily as in days of your, and I hope the pond will be spared to turn the old for many, many years to come.

The cool days have given a fresh impetus to the sora hunters, and judging from the frequent guns heard on the river there must be a great loss or a stupendous gain.

The season has been very fine for the harvesting of fodder. Some of the farmers have finished, while others have left the fodder to bleach on the corn stalks as competent labor is both scarce and dear. Protracted meetings are still very much in evidence.

-The Times(Richmond), October 6, 1901