A dog goes for a swim in Silver Lake. Do you know who owns the lake? Leave a comment by clicking the link below. (StarNews file photo)
Silver Lake lies within a subdivision west of the intersection of Carolina Beach and College roads, and is surrounded by homes.
It is not part of the park system of Wilmington. Tara Duckworth of the New Hanover County parks department confirmed the county does not own the lake.
According to residents in the area, the lake is privately owned, but they say people often fish the waters.
Queries to local businesses and the nearby Mary C. Williams Elementary School yielded no clues as to the ownership of the lake.
Silver Lake is the name of the general neighborhood and lies in the 28412 ZIP Code.
Date posted: November 17, 2011
User-contributed question by:
Anonymous
the developer of the subdivision probably donated it to county when subdivision was laid out and recorded
The two certainties of life are Death & Taxes. Therefore, ‘Who owns Silver Lake?’ should be a simple question for My Reporter to present to the New Hanover Tax Department for a definitive answer.
Also, I have fond memories of Silver Lake. During my early childhood in the decade change of the 1940s &‘50s, I was raised in Sunset Park. Neighborhood Moms would drive the kids to this lake surrounded by turkey oaks and sand hills for a day of swimming. At that time, it was much more convenient than the long drive to area beaches.
Frankie Raymer
When my parents bought in Arrowhead in the late 70’s we were told by the realtor/developer Suggs & Harrelson that the lake was community property and for awhile there was a swimming access off of Lorraine Dr N. close to the school that had sand hauled in to make a small beach area.A couple of years later the lots were built on and access was only at the opposite end off of Shawnee Trail. There was a home owner right across from that end that told us she purchased the rights to a piece of that end and fenced it off in the late 80’s, because she took care of the ducks. In all the years that I lived in the area the only people that took care of the lake were the homes that actually lived on the lake.
I used to live in the house across from the lake at Shawnee trail. It was in our deed that a small area of the access belonged to our house and the houses next to us. It is because of this that we moved away. We did not want the responsibility and liabilty that came with this. Several times children had come to my house after getting cut with glass while swimming unsupervised in that area.
I have lived in Arrowhead for 17 years and my husand and I own two houses on Silver Lake. During severe droughts we have been able to walk quite a good distance around the lake, whereas, normally that can’t be done. The amount of trash and debris that I have seen around the lake is appalling. Each area alongside the lake is someone’s property. So the trash is in the owner’s own personal yard. I can’t believe the amount of people who have huge amounts of trash that get blown into the lake and lie rotting around the lake. It seems like the homeowners would be proud of the beautiful view and take care of their yards and the fish and wildlife they get to see every day.