Pungo Lake is a freshwater lake in Washington County and Hyde County, North Carolina.[1][2] The lake has an area of about 2,800 acres,[3] and is one of the five largest freshwater lakes in the state.[4] It is the smallest of the Pocosin Lakes.[5]
| Pungo Lake | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Tundra swan in Pungo Lake | |
| Location | Washington County, Hyde County, North Carolina |
| Group | Pocosin lakes |
| Coordinates | 35°42′51″N 76°33′03″W / 35.7140686°N 76.5507567°W |
| Type | Freshwater lake |
| Etymology | Machapunga people |
| Max. depth | 6 ft (1.8 m) |
Physical characteristics
editPungo Lake is a black water lake, with no submerged vegetation due to the fact that sunlight can not penetrate its waters. The lake is believed to have formed after a ground fire burned peat deposits, creating a large depression which filled with rainwater.[6]
History
editThe lake was named after the Machapunga people.[2] There were attempts to drain the lake in the 1840s and 1850s, and it was connected to Pungo River via canal, but there have never been any major settlements around it.[5] The soil surrounding the lake is too peat-rich to be used for agriculture.[7]
Conservation
editThe lake is a part of the Pungo unit of the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.[8] The lake became a national wildlife refuge in the 1960s, and additional land was included in the refuge in the 1990s. It is a refuge for many migratory bird species, including snow geese, tundra swans.[9][3] marsh birds, wood ducks, owls, and hawks. Other species that inhabit the Pungo Lake area include red wolves, white-tailed deer, otters, bobcats, and alligators.[6]
References
edit- ^ "Pungo Lake". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
- ^ a b Powell, William S.; Hill, Michael (2010-06-15). The North Carolina Gazetteer, 2nd Ed: A Dictionary of Tar Heel Places and Their History. Univ of North Carolina Press. p. 424. ISBN 978-0-8078-9829-1.
- ^ a b Bland, Sam (2012-02-22). "A Wildlife Spectacle at Pungo Lake". Coastal Review. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
- ^ "Lakes | NCpedia". www.ncpedia.org. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
- ^ a b Sawyer, Roy T. (2010-05-05). America's Wetland: An Environmental and Cultural History of Tidewater Virginia and North Carolina. University of Virginia Press. pp. 108–109. ISBN 978-0-8139-2969-9.
- ^ a b Saunders, Corinne (2023-07-24). "Refuge exudes natural diversity, wonders of pocosin lakes". Coastal Review. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
- ^ Geologist, North Carolina State (1875). Report of the Geological Survey of North Carolina: Vol. I. Physical Geography, Resumé, Economical Geology. Josiah Turner, state printer and binder. p. 17.
- ^ Staff, Sentinel (2021-01-05). "A trip to Pungo Lake". Sandhills Sentinel. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
- ^ Rice, Eleanor Spicer (2020-12-14). "A Pungo Homecoming". Our State. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
External links
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