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Kingman Lake is a artificial lake located in the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C., in the United States. The lake was created in 1920〔 when the United States Army Corps of Engineers used material dredged from the Anacostia River to create Kingman Island.〔''Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations for 1994...,'' 1994, p. 79.〕 The Corps of Engineers largely blocked the flow of the Anacostia River to the west of Kingman Island, creating the lake (although some water is permitted to enter the lake to prevent it from completely evaporating and to refresh its waters). Kingman Lake is currently managed by the National Park Service. ==Early history of the Lake== Prior to the arrival of European settlers in the 18th century, the Anacostia River was a fast-flowing and relatively silt-free river with very few mudflats or marshes.〔Busey, "The History and Progress of Sanitation in the City of Washington...", ''Annual Addresses of the President of the Medical Society of the District of Columbia,'' 1899, p. 151.〕 White settlers cleared much of the surrounding forest for farmland, however, and extensive soil erosion led to a heavy load of silt and effluent in the Anacostia. In 1805, local landowner Benjamin Stoddert built a wooden bridge over the Anacostia River at the present site of Benning Bridge.〔(Bryan, ''A History of the National Capital From Its Foundation Through the Period of the Adoption of the Organic Act,'' 1914, p. 492. )〕〔(Croggon, "When City Was Young," ) ''Washington Evening Star,'' August 17, 1906.〕 The bridge was sold to Thomas Ewell, who in the 1820s sold it to William Benning.〔Bryan, ''A History of the National Capital From Its Foundation Through the Period of the Adoption of the Organic Act,'' 1914, p. 98-99.〕 Thereafter the structure was known as Benning's Bridge (or Benning Bridge). The wooden bridge was rebuilt several times after 1805. This included construction of a steel bridge in 1892.〔Wasserman and Hausrath, ''Washington, D.C. from A to Z: The Traveler's Look-Up Source for the Nation's Capital,'' 2003, p. 33.〕 The construction of Benning and other bridges and the diversion of inflowing streams to agricultural use also slowed the river's current, allowing much of the silt to settle and be deposited.〔Busey, "The History and Progress of Sanitation in the City of Washington...", ''Annual Addresses of the President of the Medical Society of the District of Columbia,'' 1899, p. 152-153.〕 Between 1860 and the late 1880s, large mudflats ("the Anacostia flats") formed on both banks of the Anacostia River due to this deforestation and runoff.〔Gutheim and Lee, ''Worthy of the Nation,'' 2006, p. 147.〕〔(Coues and Prentiss, "Avifauna Columbiana," ''Bulletin of the United States National Museum,'' No. 26, 1883, p. 17. )〕 At this time, the city allowed its sewage to pour untreated into the Anacostia. Marsh grass began growing in the flats, trapping the sewage and leading public health experts to conclude that the flats were unsanitary.〔 Health officials also feared that the flats were a prime breeding ground for malaria- and yellow fever-carrying mosquitoes.〔 By 1876, a large mudflat had formed just to the south of the western end of Benning Bridge, and another mudflat about wide had developed in the river south of that.〔(''Report of the Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army,'' 1876, p. 357. )〕 By 1883, a stream named "Succabel's Gut" traversed the upper flat and another dubbed "Turtle Gut" the lower, and both flats hosted substantial populations of American lotus, lily pads, and wild rice.〔 In 1898, officials with the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the District of Columbia convinced the United States Congress that the Anacostia River should be dredged to create a more commercially viable channel that would enhance the local economy as well as provide land where factories or warehouses might be built.〔〔Forgey, "The Anacostia, Stream of Consciousness," ''Washington Post,'' March 28, 1987.〕〔"To Dredge Anacostia River," ''Washington Post,'' August 9, 1902.〕 The material dredged from the river would be used to build up the flats and turn them into dry land, eliminating the public health dangers they caused.〔 Most of the reclaimed mudflats were subsequently declared to be parkland and named Anacostia Water Park (now Anacostia Park) in 1919.〔 The original dredging plan called for a channel wide on the Anacostia's west bank from the 11th Street Bridges to Massachusetts Avenue SE, narrowing to a wide channel from Massachusetts Avenue SE to the Maryland-District border line.〔 In addition to this channel (which was meant to facilitate the passage of cargo ships) the McMillan Commission proposed building a dam across the Anacostia River at Massachusetts Avenue SE or at Benning Bridge to form a large lake for fishing and recreational boating.〔〔"For A Park on Flats," ''Washington Post,'' November 5, 1905.〕〔"$1,000,000 For Flats," ''Washington Post,'' February 25, 1910.〕 The Commission also proposed using dredged material to build islands within the lake.〔 The ''Washington Post'' reported in July 1914 that Congress had approved the plan for a dam on the river at Massachusetts Avenue SE.〔"Reclaim Anacostia Flats." ''Washington Post.'' July 12, 1914.〕 By 1916, the Corps of Engineers was still planning a dam, with access to the deep lake behind it controlled by locks.〔"Another Aquatic Mecca Is Due In Near Future," ''Washington Post,'' July 30, 1916.〕 The Corps also planned to create several large islands in the lake〔 and planned to replace Benning Bridge with a drawbridge to accommodate the cargo traffic through the lake.〔"Drop Benning Bridge Draw," ''Washington Post,'' December 16, 1921.〕 The firm of Sanford and Brooks began the dredging in January 1903, at which time the Army Corps of Engineers began surveying the surrounding land to determine whether the federal government or private landowners had title to the marshes themselves.〔"Dredging Anacostia Channel," ''Washington Post,'' January 15, 1903.〕 By 1920, the Corps of Engineers had dropped the dam idea and proposed creating a deep lake on one side of the Anacostia River by linking several of the mid-river islands it had built with dikes.〔〔 That same year, Congress specifically prohibited the Corps from extending Anacostia Park beyond Benning Bridge, which forced the Corps to drop its plans for a drawbridge.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kingman Lake」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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