Pymatuning State Park | |
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IUCN category III (natural monument or feature)
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Map of the U.S. state of Ohio showing the location of Pymatuning State Park | |
Location | Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States |
Nearest city | Andover, Ohio |
Coordinates | 41°36′24″N 80°31′56″W / 41.60667°N 80.53222°WCoordinates: 41°36′24″N 80°31′56″W / 41.60667°N 80.53222°W |
Area | 3512 acres (14.21 km2) |
Established | 1950 |
Governing body | Ohio Department of Natural Resources |
Pymatuning State Park is a 3512 acres (14.21 km2) Ohio state park near Andover, Ashtabula County, Ohio in the United States. Pymatuning State Park contains 1,407 acres (5.69 km2) of Pymatuning Lake, one-quarter of which is in Ohio and three-quarters of which is in Pennsylvania. The lake provides fishing and boating year round.
Formed in the 1930s by a dam on the Shenango River, the lake features multiple beaches and camping areas in both states. The northeastern part of Pymatuning Lake, east of the spillway and three miles (5 km) south of Linesville, is a protected gameland where colonies of 20,000 Canada geese and many more ducks winter each year. The lake is the result of an earth dam three miles (5 km) north of Jamestown, Pennsylvania, whose outflow forms the Shenango River. A three-mile (5 km) causeway extends between Pennsylvania and Ohio near the center of the lake.
Pymatuning State Park is on land that was once a very large swamp. The first known inhabitants were the Mound builders. Two of their mounds were flooded over by the creation of Pymatuning Lake. The Lenape were living in the area when European settlers fist came to the area. The lake is named for the chief, who lived in the area at the time, Pihmtomink. The Lenape were pushed out of the area by the Seneca tribe a member of the larger Iroquois Confederacy. The Seneca were defeated by General Anthony Wayne's forces during the Northwest Indian War and left the area under the terms of the Treaty of Greenville. This treaty marked the beginning of the white man's domination of the area.