The Well-Enjoyed
Waters of Gaston
.4 description. Thorough planning and
regulation have set up some singular
recreational advantages on this popu¬
lar power lake.
By BEN WRIGHT
On the North Carolina. Virginia
State line, nestled between huge Kerr
Reservoir and smaller Roanoke Rapids
Lake, lies the pride of the Vir¬
ginia Electric and Power Company
(VEPCO). Gaston Lake. Gaston,
though it is not VEPCO’s only power
lake, is certainly its most unusual. In¬
deed. it is unique among all water im¬
poundments throughout North Caro¬
lina and Virginia.
The advantageous placement of Gas¬
ton between Kerr (a flood control and
power lake) and Roanoke Rapids (a
power lake), enables VEPCO,
(through the cooperation of the U. S.
Army Corps of Engineers) to main¬
tain a stable water level in the lake. In
fact, where the level of other reservoirs
may vary anywhere from three to well
over one-hundred feet, the level of Gas¬
ton fluctuates an average of only about
one foot. It is this unusual characteris¬
tic. along with strict rules and careful
planning, by VEPCO and other Gaston
officials, which has made Gaston one
of the most enjoyable and (as indicated
by its 1.500,000 visitors annually) most
sought-after lakes in North Carolina
and Virginia.
Building the Lake
Lake Gaston's popularity is by no
means a matter of luck or a twist of
fate. The development plans used for
Gaston were thorough enough to have
been called by Warren County officials
in the early I960's, "the most thorough
and far-reaching yet drawn up in North
Carolina."
First, the engineers and surveyors
decided how much land Lake Gaston
should cover. Research determined that
the lake would cover all along the Roa¬
noke River between Roanoke Rapids
Lake and Kerr Lake that was less than
two-hundred feet above sea level.
Having thus designated the area of
the lake and marked off all land meet¬
ing this requirement. VEPCO initiated
a thorough cleaning of the land, cutting
all trees and other vegetation to a maxi¬
mum height of three inches and dispos¬
ing of all the unwanted refuse. The job
of cleaning the 20,000 acres that was
to be the lake bottom took about two
years to complete.
Actual construction of the 3.600-
foot-long Gaston Dam — by Stone and
Webster Engineers — got underway in
the spring of 1960, employing some
1.500 men at the peak of construction.
Total cost of the project ran to some
S45.000.000. By 1963 Lake Gaston
was filled and ready for the public.
Of course, the planning did not stop
after the lake’s completion. Officials of
three North Carolina counties, Warren.
Halifax, and Northampton, and two in
Virginia. Brunswick and Mecklenburg,
made careful, rigid plans to handle the
development and habitation of the lake
and surrounding land.
Today, the carefully maintained
shoreline and aesthetically developed
subdivisions, both private and public,
residential and camping, arc a testi¬
mony to the thoroughness of these
plans.
Lake Gaston is approximately 34
miles long, 1 .3 miles across at the wid¬
est point, has 20,300 acres of surface
area, and 350 miles of shoreline, said
by many to be the most beautiful to be
found in the entire nation.
Valuable Asset
Since 1963, Lake Gaston has served
a number of uses for North Carolinians
and Virginians, not the least of which
is its addition to the electric supply
through VEPCO’s pool of several gen-
THE STATE. APRIL 1974
