Searsville Lake

USA / California / Portola Valley /
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Searsville Dam, completed in October 1891, created a lake of some 300 acres.

While much of the old town of Searsville moved over to Portola -- near the present Valley Presbyterian Church -- the old town was never inundated. A careful observer can still see signs of the streets near the southwest end of the lake.

From 1922 until 1975, when Stanford formally created Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, big crowds came to play at Searsville Lake. By 1975, the lake that had held 450 million gallons of water in 1891 had silted up so much that its capacity was reduced to 200 million gallons.

Even before World War I, newspaper reports complained about silting of the lake. In 1919 Stanford took over the lake and dam from the Spring Valley Water Company and raised the dam 3-1/2 feet.

In later years, there has been discussion of removing the dam and allowing the San Francisquito Creek watershed to naturalize. More at jrbp.stanford.edu/watershed.php
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Coordinates:   37°24'17"N   122°14'16"W

Comments

  • Used to be good hiking on Jasper ridge, and good rock climbing on the sandstone crag known as rattlesnake rock next to Searsville Lake. All gone private now.
  • I read the web link about jrbp removal of the dam, and one aspect struck me strange at the end of the article: The use of mosquito abatement! Say! I thought this was suppose to be a "biological preserve"! Removing the mosquitos unhinges that balance in the preserve, in that there are aquatic and amphibious [frogs] wildlife that are native species to the area needing mosquitos as a food source. I can understand the abatement of the mosquitos for health reasons. But I find it paradoxical that for a "preserve", they have resorted to an "eradication" of a wildlife species that other species depends on.
  • hi cheri & kent Here is the searsville lake that your dad and I went swimming the summers enjoyed our vist Love uncle Ken
  • I was told by a friend of mine that Searsville closed due to him getting polio from the water.
This article was last modified 12 years ago