Potter Lake

Potter Lake began construction in 1910 and was dedicated in 1911 to State Senator and former member of the board of regents for the University of Kansas Thomas M. Potter. Potter lake now sits on the northern slope of memorial drive and has been a fixture in KU's landscape for more than a century. The lake has been reduced significantly in size as some initial measurements of the lake estimated it to be 2 acres across, between 16-18th deep, and hold roughly four million gallons of water.

Construction of Potter Lake was first offered to W.W. Gilmore of Lawrence, who was contracted to build a dam for $3,250. The dam and the accompanying spillways and bridge were supposed to be completed by the first of May in 1911. There are slightly varying dimensions of the size of the original pond. One account from the Mount Oread Historic fund estimates that the lake was roughly two acres in size. At the same time, the archival material at KU suggests that the Damn and the connected lake were closer to 400ft long and 60ft wide, roughly 24,000 square feet or just over half an acre. It is hard to say who is correct, but regardless it is likely that the Initially Potter Lake has since shrank in size. However, both accounts agree that the lake's deepest depth was between 14-16ft. The initial purpose of the lake, to extinguish a fire that broke out on the campus, was accomplished by an electric pump and motor system that boasted being able to secure more than 1000 gallons of water per minute in the case of a fire. The pump house built alongside the lake was made with red stone bricks and a limestone interior. Currently, the pumphouse sits unused, filling its openings with concrete. Potter lake has been dredged twice, first in 1958 to deal with progressively worsening pollution and water quality and a second time in 2011 to honor a century of the lake.

Potter Lake has served the KU student body for over a century, conforming to whatever function students could conceive. To commemorate its construction, the KU band performed at its opening ceremony, which was followed by a plethora of water sports. The infamous Athletic Director, James Naismith, attended the lake's opening and organized the athletic festivities, including swimming races, log rolling, tub and canoe racing, and a diving contest. Naismith proceeded to organize annual celebrations on Potter Lake corresponding with commencement. In 1914 a diving board briefly lived at the lake before water quality made such activities questionable for one's health. Chancellor Lindley banned swimming in the Lake in 1924 because of the health concerns that arose from it. However, Potter Lake continued to serve the community. A seven-hole golf course that has now been reclaimed by nature was built on campus with Potter Lake as its centerpiece. In the 1990s, the lake had recovered enough to fill with fish life. Students fished the lake in their free time. One KU student John Trager and an amateur fisherman caught a 41-inch, 25-pound flathead catfish. In 1997 and the year that followed, students organized a “Floating Flicks” night. A quartet of King-sized bedsheets coated in a reflective material drifted atop Styrofoam until it was pinned via ropes. This contraption of a screen was appropriate for titles such as “The Creature from the Black Lagoon,” “Abyss,” and “Deliverance” to be projected on top of.

           The Lake also proved to be a useful classroom for professors and students who learned from the lake just as much as it was a place for relaxation. In 2000 the design department had students construct jewelry that was buoyant. A class-tested their creations atop Potter Lake by having their art float out while carrying candles. Biology department students found Potter Lake to be a helpful lab. During its initial emptying in the 1950s, biology students hoped the lake would serve as a living zoological laboratory. Students hoped that fixing the pollution problem would let wildlife thrive in the pond and the surrounding land. Biologists also played a role in the second dredging of the lake, when they advised putting marshland grasses on the perimeter of the lake to reduce flooding and promote healthy ecological growth.

           For all its academic and leisurely functions, Potter Lake also has served as a spiritual and moral center for the student zeitgeist. Like many campuses across the country, the KU campus erupted in anti-war fervor in the tumultuous 60s and 70s. Amid the sit-ins and fires that captured the campus's focus, Potter Lake also had its own role to play. A year before Nixon took office, in 1967, playing on the idea of a sit-in, Potter Lake housed a “Human-be-in.” The event aimed to critique the technocratic systems in America that were dehumanizing. The natural scenes of Potter Lake contrasted the rigid ways in which ‘the man’ funneled young people into the ‘real world’ without choice or agency. The event commented on how students could be drafted and have their lives disrupted and how these systems were counter to the civil rights movement, which students had organized in favor of.

On November 5^th, 2022, KU defeated Oklahoma State 37-16 and won bowl game eligibility. Post-game, the student body, in addition to fans in attendance, pulled out the field goal post and hauled it into the nearby Potter Lake. The students celebrating KUs bowl eligibility for the first time in more than a decade joined a long tradition of adding a field goal to Potter Lake. Field goals have entered the lake at least four other times against Nebraska, WVU, Mizzou, and K-State.

           Potter lake also has its fair share of tragedies. Mere days before its completion in 1911, an engineering student, Leonard Ritchey, and a group of friends decided to swim across the new lake. Ritchey had a history of weak cardiovascular health and began struggling to stay afloat. Ritchey sank beneath the water, and his friends could not lift Ritchey to the surface. The swim captain, James Daniels, was telephoned and managed to bring Ritchey ashore. However, because Daniels arrived nearly half an hour after Ritchey sank, recitation did not yield any positive results. Ritchey was the first of seven students who would eventually meet their ends in Potter Lake. Almost exactly a year after Ritchey’s death, Ernest Van Dyke another engineering student, drowned after diving into the lake.

KU History. “A Lake’s Progress,” May 29, 2018. https://kuhistory.ku.edu/articles/lakes-progress.

Caitlin Donnelly. “Kenneth Spencer Research Library Blog » Potter Lake,” June 10, 2021. https://blogs.lib.ku.edu/spencer/tag/potter-lake/.

Evert Nelson. “Kansas Football Fans Bring Goal Post to Potter Lake after Beating Oklahoma State.” The Topeka Capital-Journal, November 5, 2022. https://www.cjonline.com/videos/sports/college/football/2022/11/06/kansas-football-fans-bring-goal-post-potter-lake-after-beating-oklahoma-state/8283050001/.

Grayson Weir. “Epic Scenes Unfold As Kansas Students Throw Goalpost In The Lake To Celebrate Bowl Eligibility.” OutKick, November 6, 2022. https://www.outkick.com/kansas-jayhawks-football-oklahoma-state-bowl-eligible-storm-field-goalpost-potter-lake/.

Joanna Hlacacek. “Myths, Icons and Forgotten History Abound on KU Campus.” LJWorld.Com (blog), August 24, 2014. https://www2.ljworld.com/news/2014/aug/24/myths-icons-and-forgotten-history-abound-ku-campus/.

Leonard Hollmann. “Campus Views Postcards,” 1930 1912. Leonard Hollmann photograph collection Box 6, Folder-13-17. Spencer Research Library.

———. “Family on Stone Bridge,” 1948 1911. Leonard Hollmann photograph collection, Postcards, 1895-1997 (bulk 1905-1930), University of Kansas, Box 8, Folder 26-27. Spencer Research Library.

KU History. “Once More To The Lake,” May 29, 2018. https://kuhistory.ku.edu/timeline/once-more-lake.

“Potter Lake and Pump House.” Accessed February 12, 2023. http://www2test.ku.edu/~union/hmof/landmarks/potter.shtml.

Wilbur D. Hess. “Car in Potter Lake.” Lawrence Journal World, 1966 1961. Wilbur D. Hess collection, Journalism Materials, Box 45, Folder 10-14. Spencer Research Library.

———. “Potter Lake Negatives,” 1974 1948. Film collections, Box 7, Folder 26. Spencer Research Library.

———. “Skating and Sledding Near Potter Lake (Positives and Negatives).” Lawrence Journal World, 1974 1969. Wilbur D. Hess Collection, Journalism photographic materials, 1948 - 1974 Negatives, 1950 - 1974, Box 44, Folder 26-27. Spencer Research Library.

William E. Culver. “Group of People at Potter Lake,” June 17, 1916. William E. Culver photographic collection, Photographic prints, 1867-1963, bulk 1892-1919. Spencer Research Library.