Status unknown · DeKalb County · Dam inventory GA01792
Clearlake Court
A small privately held earthen recreation dam on Snapfinger Creek in DeKalb, recorded in the federal dam inventory as Clearlake Court, with no known lake history.
From the air
Clearlake Court's dam is a long, straight embankment along the west shore, not a wall across the south end. A notch in its crest sends overflow down a ravine to a second lake built in 1968-72.
- First seen
- Not there in 1940; by 1955 it is a full lake with a finished embankment.
- Dam in the lidar
- Earthen embankment along the west shore, about 400 to 445 feet long. It is roughly 17 feet high mid-dam and up to about 19 feet at the south end. The crest sits about 4 feet above the pool. A notch in the crest, at pool level, looks like an intentional spillway. No breach.
Low water and drawdowns
- 1968: The pool appears modestly low in one winter frame. Pale bare bands show along the east shore and at the north end, perhaps 2 feet of bank. Not a drain, and no cause is visible.
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 11 ft. Treat it as an estimate; no survey of the lake bottom was found. How depth is estimated.
History
The National Inventory of Dams lists Clearlake Court as an earthen recreation dam in DeKalb County on Snapfinger Creek, with a company, F. M. Land Company, as owner of record. NID gives a completion year of 1950, a height of 17 feet, a length of 412 feet and 50 acre-feet of storage, with hazard potential 'Low' and condition 'Not Rated'. Surface area is recorded as 0 acres, likely a blank field. The name resembles a subdivision street, but no plat or article was found to confirm that or to say who built the dam. 1
Who built it
Not documented in any source found. NID lists a private owner (a land company), recreation use, an unknown designer and a completion year of 1950, which is probably approximate (10 of 58 DeKalb dam records show exactly 1950). Builder and purpose unknown. 1
Timeline
- 1950 (per NID)National Inventory of Dams gives 1950 as the year the dam was completed. This is unverified and may be an approximate figure. Uncertain 1
The dam
NID: earth dam, 17 ft high, 412 ft long, 50 acre-ft storage, uncontrolled spillway, private owner, hazard potential 'Low', condition 'Not Rated', not state regulated or jurisdictional. No rebuild, spillway or contract records were found. 1
- Year in the inventory
- 1950
- Dam height
- 17 ft
- Stream
- Snapfinger Creek
- 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
NID lists the impounded stream as Snapfinger Creek, which flows to the South River, a tributary system that helps form the Ocmulgee River (Wikipedia, reference-level).
Visiting
Getting there
Listed as privately owned in NID (record last updated 2021). Not confirmed whether any public access exists; treat as private property.
What you can see
Not confirmed. Check current imagery and view only 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
- Is 'Clearlake Court' a street or subdivision name, and what was the lake called before?
- Who built the dam and when? Is 1950 accurate?
- Does the lake still hold water? NID lists 0 surface acres but 50 acre-ft of storage.
- Was the lake a subdivision amenity or a private pond, and what did F. M. Land Company do with the parcel?
Know something? Write to hello@historyunderfoot.org. Family papers, photos and deeds often settle these.
Where to look next
- Historic aerial photographs of DeKalb County (1930s-40s series; coverage to be confirmed), to check for a pre-1950 pond on Snapfinger Creek (UGA Libraries Map and Government Information Library / Digital Library of Georgia)
- USGS topographic map editions 1950s to 1970s for lake outline and labels (USGS TopoView (Stone Mountain or Redan quadrangle))
- Subdivision plat for Clearlake Court or nearby streets (DeKalb County Superior Court Clerk, plat books; Digital Library of Georgia plat collections)
- NID record and Georgia Safe Dams file (state ID 044-114-05916) (National Inventory of Dams; Georgia EPD Safe Dams Program)