Lake Norman, the largest body of fresh water in North Carolina, was created by the establishment of the Cowans Ford Dam on the Catawba River in 1967. The lake takes its name from Norman Atwater Cocke, former president of Duke Power, the company that created the lake.
The result of this monumental project was the scenic inland sea that now makes up Lake Norman.
These facts help communicate the grand scale of the lake:
32,500 surface acres of water
34 miles long and 8 miles across at its widest point (twice the size of the Sea of Gallilee)
520 miles of shoreline (more than the coasts of both North and South Carolina)
130 feet deep at its deepest point
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