Capital City Country Club Lake (Brookhaven Country Club Lake)

From the air

The lake looks full in every aerial from 1940 to 2026. Its only real change is a golf peninsula on the south shore, which took a few tenths of an acre.

First seen

Already a full lake in the 1940 aerial, the earliest available, so it was built before then.

Dam in the lidar

A grassed earthen dam at the west end, about 400 to 430 feet long. Its crest is around 910 feet, roughly 33 feet above the creek at its foot (27 to 35 feet, depending on where the base is measured). No breach shows. An open outlet channel at the northwest corner carries overflow west.

Read from aerial photos taken between 1940 and 2026 and from DeKalb County 2024 lidar, then checked by a second reading. How the photos were read.

Depth

Modeled from the shoreline shape and the dam inventory’s average depth: deepest point about 15 ft. Treat it as an estimate; no survey of the lake bottom was found. How depth is estimated.

History

This 18-acre lake sits on the Capital City Club's Brookhaven course, in the neighborhood laid out from 1910 around Brookhaven Country Club. The 1985 National Register nomination says the club offered swimming in 'Brookhaven Lake' from the beginning, and the club opened in January 1912. The National Inventory of Dams lists the earthen dam as completed in 1925, 23 ft high, with an uncontrolled spillway; that date conflicts with the earlier lake and may be an estimate. Georgia regulates it as a Category I dam, meaning a failure would probably cost lives. It is privately owned, and the record on the dam's builder and any rebuilds is thin. 12345

Who built it

Brookhaven Estates was bought in 1910 by Atlanta investors from the Mechanical and Manufacturers' Club. Brookhaven Country Club was incorporated in October 1910 and opened in January 1912. Herbert H. Barker laid out the course in 1911 (the nomination dates the grounds 1910-11). The nomination says swimming in Brookhaven Lake was offered from the beginning, so the lake existed by about 1912. No source found says who built the dam or when. The NID date of 1925 may be a rebuild or an estimate. NID gives the stream as 'Unknown'; the NHD flowline at the dam is unnamed and runs west toward Nancy Creek. 145678

Timeline

1. Early 1800sJohn L. Evins is said to have started a plantation in the Brookhaven area (c. 1810 per Wikipedia). Nearly all of the later historic district was land once owned by Solomon Goodwin and/or the Stovall family. Likely 4510
2. 1831Solomon Goodwin built a house on Peachtree Road, about 1.4 km from the lake; a 1954 state marker called it the oldest extant house in DeKalb County. 11
3. July 18, 1864Hascall's division of the Union 23rd Army Corps marched from Old Cross Keys and the Samuel House plantation, turned southeast at the Goodwin house and camped at Johnston's Mill. 11
4. c. 1900Prominent Atlantans began building summer cottages in Brookhaven, then too far for a daily commute to Atlanta. 56
5. 1910Investors from the Mechanical and Manufacturers' Club bought land for Brookhaven Estates; Brookhaven Country Club was incorporated in October. 46
6. 1910-1911Herbert H. Barker, a golf pro from Garden City, Long Island, laid out the course. The National Register nomination dates the grounds 1910-11 and describes the course as landscaped with a lake. Buckhead Heritage names him 'Robert H. Barker'. 4512
7. January 1912Brookhaven Country Club opened as Atlanta's second golf course after East Lake. The nomination says it offered golf, swimming in Brookhaven Lake and tennis from the beginning. 45
8. 1913-1915Capital City Club leased Brookhaven in 1913 and bought it in 1915, expanding the nine-hole course to 18 holes. Most Brookhaven members already belonged to Capital City. 45613
9. 1925NID lists the dam as completed; the basis of this date is not stated, and the lake appears to predate it. Uncertain 19
10. 1927-1928Second clubhouse built. The nomination calls it Norman Revival and credits Preston Stevens; Wikipedia names the firm Burge and Stevens. The nomination, Buckhead Heritage and a DLG photo note give 1927; the neighborhood association and Rough Draft give 1928. 451261314
11. 1929 and 1936Country Club Estates was established in 1929 and Carleton Operating Company land was platted in 1936; most surrounding houses were built during the Depression and before 1942. 56
12. 1986Brookhaven Historic District listed on the National Register (January 14 per the neighborhood association, January 24 per Wikipedia; the nomination was prepared December 5, 1985). 4515
13. 2009Golf Digest says architect Bob Cupp rebuilt and re-engineered the course with new holes and a new routing; effects on the lake and dam are not documented. 16
14. 2014-2017A 2014 state inspection found the dam in good condition (reported October 2015). NID lists an inspection dated February 15, 2017, rated Satisfactory. 19

Names

Capital City Country Club Lake Dam

Official dam name in the National Inventory of Dams and the Georgia Safe Dams inventory; the owner is listed as Capital City Country Club. 12

Brookhaven Country Club Lake

USGS/GNIS name (GNIS ID 338894) for the waterbody at this spot, carried over from the original 1910 club. The large-scale NHD polygon is about 0.082 sq km (roughly 20 acres), close to NID's 18.4 acres. 7

Brookhaven Lake

Name used in the 1985 National Register nomination, which says the club offered 'golf, swimming in Brookhaven Lake, and tennis' from the beginning. 4

Capital City Club lake

Informal modern name for the lake on the club's Brookhaven course; the club's event page describes a veranda with 'a view of the lake' at its Lakeview Room. 17

The dam

Earthen dam, 23 ft high, 330 ft long, 18 ft hydraulic height. It stores 126 acre-ft at normal pool and 355 acre-ft at maximum, with an uncontrolled spillway and outlet. NID rates it High hazard, Satisfactory condition, with an emergency action plan prepared; the record was last updated in 2021. The last inspection listed is February 15, 2017, on a 2-year cycle. Georgia EPD lists it as Category I (a failure would probably cause loss of life), permit 060-091-00105. The NID designer field reads 'UNKNOWN', and no rebuild, engineering study or contract was found. NID's drainage area of 912 sq mi is implausible for a small pond, so treat it as a data error. 1239

Year in the inventory

1925

Dam height

23 ft

Surface

18.4 acres

Average depth

about 6.8 ft

Owner type

Private

Figures from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ National Inventory of Dams. Its “year” is often a rebuild or survey date, and average depth is storage divided by area.

Around the lake

Water

The dam sits on a small tributary in the upper Nancy Creek area. The NHDPlus flowline from the lake runs west toward Nancy Creek, which USGS names on segments about 3 km away, and Nancy Creek continues to the Chattahoochee. NID lists the stream as 'Unknown'.

Civil War

The Goodwin house on Peachtree Road, about 1.4 km away, carries a 1954 marker. On July 18, 1864, Hascall's division of the 23rd Corps turned southeast there to camp at Johnston's Mill. No source places troops at the lake.

Segregation

No source found links this lake or the club's early membership to segregation, and the Atlanta club's admission policies are undocumented in the material found. Lynwood Park, historically an African-American neighborhood north of Windsor Parkway, lies about 2.5 km northeast.

Before 1861

Land here was tied to early owners John Evins, Solomon Goodwin and the Stovall family (the nomination names Isham Stovall). Goodwin's house is dated 1831. Wikipedia reports a small railroad station called Goodwin's built in 1873, which is likely but not corroborated here. Land lot numbers for the lake were not found.

Visiting

Getting there

Private. The course and lake belong to the Capital City Club (owner listed as Capital City Country Club) and are for members and guests only. The club's event page describes the Lakeview Room's veranda as offering a view of the lake.

What you can see

Public visitors cannot enter the course. Historical Marker Database records three identical markers erected by the club around the golf course perimeter (two of them reported missing at the last update); the one at Brookhaven Drive NE and East Brookhaven Drive NE reads 'first planned golf club community in Georgia'. The dam and spillway are not known to be visible from public roads.

Look, don’t dig. Parks, cemeteries and preserves are off limits to digging and collecting, and private land needs the owner’s permission to enter.

Open questions

• Who built the dam, and when? NID lists 1925, but the lake is already part of the club's amenities at the 1912 opening per the National Register nomination.
• Which stream did the pond impound? NID says 'Unknown' and the NHD flowline at the dam is unnamed.
• Was the dam rebuilt, raised or repaired? No engineering study or contract was found.
• Did the 2009 Bob Cupp course rebuild alter the lake or dam?
• What were the Atlanta club's membership policies on race, religion and gender in the twentieth century?
• Was there any period of drawdown, or events such as swimming-era rules? Nothing dated beyond 'swimming in Brookhaven Lake' was found.
• Is the lake in Fulton County (per NID and EPD) or DeKalb County (where the city and neighborhood lie)?

Know something? Write to hello@historyunderfoot.org. Family papers, photos and deeds often settle these.

Where to look next

• 1985 National Register nomination, Brookhaven Historic District (Carolyn Brooks, Georgia DNR Historic Preservation Section, Dec 5, 1985); the source for the lake and swimming statements (National Park Service NPGallery, reference 86000134)
• Georgia Safe Dams file for permit 060-091-00105: inspection reports, EAP, any plans. Request via Georgia Open Records Act. (Georgia EPD Safe Dams Program)
• Historic aerials of the lake and course: UGA 1938-40 DeKalb County aerials and GSU 1949 Atlanta aerials. NID and EPD list Fulton County while the neighborhood is in DeKalb, so check both sets. (UGA Map and Government Information Library; Georgia State University Library)
• USGS topographic quadrangle editions (Northeast Atlanta) to date the lake's first appearance (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)
• Georgia Historic Newspapers phrase search for 'Brookhaven lake': 421 hits, including Atlanta Georgian issues of June 15, 1914, February 29, 1920 and March 1, 1920. Confirm each refers to this lake before use. (Georgia Historic Newspapers (DLG/Galileo))
• GSU Planning Atlanta photograph 'Capital City Country Club, originally known as Brookhaven Country Club, built 1927' (Digital Library of Georgia, gsu_planatl_5324)
• Plats for Brookhaven Estates (1910), Country Club Estates (1929) and Carleton Operating Company land (1936) (Fulton and DeKalb County plat records)
• Club history timeline, which may date the lake and dam; the page embeds an external timeline that could not be read (Capital City Club, club-history page)

Sources

1. National Inventory of Dams: Capital City Country Club Lake Dam (GA01916), national CSV data updated 2026-09-23 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
2. Inventory of Dams (June 2025), Safe Dams Program Georgia Environmental Protection Division
3. Safe Dams Program Georgia Environmental Protection Division
4. Brookhaven Historic District National Register nomination (Carolyn Brooks, 1985) National Park Service
5. History Historic Brookhaven Neighborhood Association
6. Brookhaven at 100: A century makes a difference Rough Draft Atlanta
7. National Hydrography Dataset map service: Waterbody 'Brookhaven Country Club Lake' (GNIS 338894) and flowlines U.S. Geological Survey
8. NLDI linked-data navigation for NHDPlus COMID 2047909 U.S. Geological Survey
9. State monitors 'high-hazard' dams Rough Draft Atlanta
10. Brookhaven, Georgia Wikipedia
11. Solomon Goodwin's Residence historical marker (Georgia Historical Commission, 1954) Historical Marker Database
12. Brookhaven Historic District Buckhead Heritage
13. Capital City Club Wikipedia
14. Atlanta Historic Buildings, Capital City Country Club, Originally Known as Brookhaven Country Club, Built 1927 Digital Library of Georgia / Georgia State University Special Collections
15. Brookhaven Historic District Wikipedia
16. Capital City Club Brookhaven course profile Golf Digest
17. Capital City Club Brookhaven event spaces (Lakeview Room) Capital City Club