Update for Lake Allatoona Corps of Engineers Properties

With the recent heavy rainstorms, Lake Allatoona’s water level has been greatly effected. Our water level is finally going down, today it is at 842.46 and hopefully by next week we will be back to 840.
An interesting fact and rule of thumb is for every inch of water that falls over Lake Allatoona equals about one foot of water rise in the lake.
The Corps of Engineers have closed many Campgrounds, Launch Ramps, Day Use Parks and Beaches  around the lake due to safety reasons.

Have a happy and safe Memorial Day!

Click read more to view the entire list of open/closed Corps of Engineer Day Use Areas, Boat Launch Ramps, Campgrounds and Beaches.

I know many people are upset that the 2013 Pro Wakeboard Tour was moved from Lake Allatoona to Lake Acworth due to the flood.

Ga. Lake View caught up with a few of the wakeboard guys and they offered to take us in the boat for some of their practice runs.

We climbed into the $120k wakeboard boat and what a ride it was!

Hopefully the tour will return to Lake Allatoona next year.

Watch the video below to see what it's like from inside the boat.

relocated to Lake Acworth Beach at Cauble Park.  The event will be held on Saturday, May 18 from noon to 7:00 p.m.  Immediately following the event, a Block Party will be held in Historic Downtown Acworth that will feature the presentation of the awards from the Pro Tour event, live music, outdoor dining opportunities, and much more!  The Block Party will run from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.  Parking will be available in Historic Downtown Acworth and shuttles will be running from various locations to bring visitors down to the park.  
Lake Acworth will not be able to accommodate public access to the water by way of boat.  We encourage all of those loyal spectators who planned to line the

While Lake Allatoona is cresting from last week’s flood and most campsites, docks and boat launches are closed I thought I would suggest some interesting places to visit close to Allatoona Lake.

Today I will start with Barnsley Gardens Resort along with the tormented history of this amazing property.

I visited Barnsley about a year ago in the fall, we enjoyed a beautiful ride to the resort and even though it was quite chilly outside we decided to take the tour of the gardens and the mansion ruins.

The first thing I noticed winding our way down a path toward the ruins of the mansion was the amazing trees and plants, none of them seemed indigenous to the area. I had never seen anything like it before. Come to find out that most of the trees and plants were brought back by Godfrey Barnsley the original owner of the 10,000 acre property formally called the Woodlands. These plants and trees came from all over the world as he traveled as a cotton broker.

Barnsley was born in Derbyshire, England in 1805 and immigrated to Savannah, Ga. in 1824. Upon arrival he was penniless and lacked formal education but he became one of Savannahs most affluent men. He made his immense fortune through the cotton trade and shipping business.

In 1828 Barnsley married Julia Henrietta Scarborough, daughter of William Scarborough a wealthy Savannah merchant and shipbuilder.

During the course of their marriage they had six children (other reports claim eight children) but in 1842 Julia fell ill so Barnsley decided to move the family to Adairsville, Ga. to escape the threat of malaria and yellow fever.

The construction of the 24 room mansion designed to resemble an Italian Villa began in the late 1830’s but Barnsley was warned by an old Indian not to build on the proposed area. He claimed it was sacred to the Cherokee and disruption to the site would end in a curse.

Barnsley dismissed the warning of the old Indian and continued with the construction of the mansion. Soon after completion of the mansion tragedy fell upon the family with the death of their infant son and then his wife Julia in 1845 from Tuberculosis. Adelaide Barnsley their second daughter died suddenly in the mansion in 1858. Barnsley’s oldest son Howard was killed in 1862 by

In light of the extremely heavy rainfall and flooding at Lake Allatoona, people wonder why the Dam doesn’t just open up and bring the lake levels back down. I have received a lot of questions concerning this over the past week.

One of the main purposes that Allatoona Dam was built was to prevent any future flooding disasters to befall upon Rome, Ga..  The first major flooding of Rome happened in April 1886 when the rivers crested at 15.29 feet over flood level.

The Oostanaula and Etowah Rivers merge into and form the Coosa River close to Myrtle Hill in Rome. The week long continuous rainfall caused these rivers to rise to the point that a steamboat was able to travel down Broad Street.

eight marinas are not accessible this will further delay the short economic recovery that is brought by 6 to 7 million visitors per year.

There are many closures around the lake so be sure to check ahead before planning to visit the lake. 
CHECK CLOSINGS 

DALLAS, TEXAS (May 1, 2013) Suntex Ventures, the Dallas-based owner and operator of marina properties, announced today that it has merged with Big D Boat Club & Watersports. The new operation will be called Suntex Boat Club & Watersports. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Big D Boat Club & Watersports, founded in 2009, has operated boat clubs and boat rentals in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex on Lake Ray Hubbard, Eagle Mountain Lake and Lake Lewisville. It is a rental boat club membership business with a vision of introducing people to the boating lifestyle in a more cost effective way. Memberships provide access to the boat club’s fleet of pontoons, ski and fishing boats, deck boats, wakeboard boats and jet skis. The memberships also include all the gear and accessories. When members arrive at the marina, their reserved boat is clean, full of fuel, staged with the requested water toys and life jackets, and ready for a day on the water. “This merger and partnership made sense for Big D Boat Club to grow into markets we desire,” explained Monty Kitchen, founder of Big D Boat Club/Director of Suntex Boat Club & Watersports. “Suntex is very customer- driven in how it operates and that was extremely important to me. We had no desire to grow without a partner that sees business the same way we do, customer service is number one. Unlike other franchise-type marina boat clubs across the country, we will be the first to bring customers in as renters or club members, and then maintain that relationship for life.”