A NEW STATE PARK
1958–1970s
Past Drainings
Most everyone in Greene County knows about the 2005 draining of Duke Lake, but did you know that the lake had been drained twice before? In 1966, the lake was drained so boat docks could be built. Residents were angered when thousands of dead fish were left behind. When the lake was drained again in 1969 for construction of the swimming pool, officials took a different approach. The water level was lowered slowly, and fish were carefully collected to avoid another fish kill. Read more in the newspaper clippings.
In 1958, a new state park was announced in Greene County as part of a goal to build a state park within 25 miles of every Pennsylvania resident. The design included a 515-foot dam that would create a 62-acre recreational lake with a three-mile shoreline on the former Lazear Farm.
The park was officially named Ryerson Station State Park in 1961, but construction faced repeated delays because of budget cuts, infrastructure problems, and water pollution that made swimming unsafe. The first state park in the Washington-Greene area, Ryerson fully opened to the public on Memorial Day 1968 with picnicking, fishing, boating, and camping facilities. A swimming pool was added in 1970.
A NEW STATE PARK
1958–1970s
In 1958, a new state park was announced in Greene County as part of a goal to build a state park within 25 miles of every Pennsylvania resident. The design included a 515-foot dam that would create a 62-acre recreational lake with a three-mile shoreline on the former Lazear Farm.
The park was officially named Ryerson Station State Park in 1961, but construction faced repeated delays because of budget cuts, infrastructure problems, and water pollution that made swimming unsafe. The first state park in the Washington-Greene area, Ryerson fully opened to the public on Memorial Day 1968 with picnicking, fishing, boating, and camping facilities. A swimming pool was added in 1970.
Past Drainings
Most everyone in Greene County knows about the 2005 draining of Duke Lake, but did you know that the lake had been drained twice before? In 1966, the lake was drained so boat docks could be built. Residents were angered when thousands of dead fish were left behind. When the lake was drained again in 1969 for construction of the swimming pool, officials took a different approach. The water level was lowered slowly, and fish were carefully collected to avoid another fish kill. Read more in the newspaper clippings.