Visited on 3/16/2018 while traveling on a work assignment to Pilot Rock Conservation Camp to proctor inmate examinations for the Drinking Water and Wastewater Operator Certification program. Sitting at an elevation of 4,554 feet is Lake Gregory. This 88 acre artificial lake is nestled in the San Bernardino National Forest of the San Bernardino Mountains in San Bernardino County, California. The lake and the surrounding area make up the Lake Gregory Regional Park adjacent to Crestline, California.
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 at Valley of the Moon
to cut wood for crating his "Orange Blossom" brand of citrus fruit.
Gregory was also instrumental in creating the Crest Forest County Water
District (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 (WPA) grant to dam the east and west
forks of Houston Creek, whose waters drained into tributaries of the Mojave River,
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. 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 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.
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