Lake Kampeska
| Lake Kampeska | |
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Sailboat on Lake Kampeska taken from the shore at Memorial Park on 1 September 2013
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2002 USGS Data
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| Location | Codington / South Dakota, United States |
| Coordinates | 44°55′53.51″N 97°12′27.65″W / 44.9315306°N 97.2076806°WCoordinates: 44°55′53.51″N 97°12′27.65″W / 44.9315306°N 97.2076806°W |
| Type | Glacial lake |
| Primary inflows | Big Sioux River |
| Primary outflows | Big Sioux River |
| Catchment area | 20,433 acres (83 km2) |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 4.77 mi (8 km) |
| Max. width | 2.3 mi (4 km) |
| Surface area | 5,250 acres (21 km2) |
| Average depth | 7 ft (2 m) |
| Max. depth | 16 ft (5 m) |
| Water volume | 51,000 acre·ft (62,908 ML) |
| Shore length1 | 13.5 mi (20 km) |
| Surface elevation | 1,715.2 ft (523 m) |
| Frozen | Winter months |
| Settlements |
Kampeska City (formerly) Watertown, South Dakota |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Lake Kampeska is a 5,250-acre (21 km2) inland glacial lake in the U.S. state of South Dakota. It is located west-northwest of Watertown, South Dakota and lies entirely within Codington County and the Coteau des Prairies. The lake is naturally shaped and the most urban developed lake in South Dakota with approximately 13.5 miles (20 km) of residential shoreline. Lake Kampeska is connected to the Big Sioux River through a single inlet-outlet channel located on the northeast side. It is the third largest natural lake within the borders of South Dakota. Lake Kampeska is well-known for its depictions in art from artists such as Terry Redlin, John Greene, John Wilson, and Joshua Spies.
It is known in the expressive language of the Dakotas as Lake Kampeska, signifying the "Lake of the Shining Shells."
Famous pathfinder John C. Fremont and scientist Joseph Nicollet explored this region of Dakota Territory approximately in May or June 1838. In their undated notes they described the area as the "lake country of the coteau prairie." Some of their findings appear to be second hand accounts of the area. However, the expedition failed to include some of the lakes of the area on their map including, Kampeska.
Lake Kampeska's settlement predates Watertown and statehood of South Dakota. Initially founded as Kampeska City, modern-day Codington County's borders were drawn in such a way that Lake Kampeska would be at the geographical epicenter of the county. Chicago and Northwestern Railroad operated near Lake Kampeska beginning in 1873.
Codington, a Congregational clergyman, carved out the geographical location for the purpose of making the area a county-seat town. Kampeska City was the county-seat of Lake Kampeska County, until July 19, 1878, when a vote of the people removed the county-seat to Watertown after the railroad reactivated a line through that area. At the time of the vote, Watertown was not in fact a town.
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