Newnans Lake
Newnans Lake is a lake located off State Road 20, east of Gainesville, Florida. Approximately wide, Newnans Lake is home to many forms of wildlife, and had been designated as a protected site by Alachua County. It was earlier known as Lake Pithlachocco.
Before 1927, the lake drained into Paines Prairie through Prairie Creek. That year Camp Ranch built a canal to divert the flow of water to the River Styx and from there to Orange Lake. After the canal, Paynes Prairie received significantly less water flow overall.
In the Spring and Summer of 2000, a drought revealed canoe remnants. Forty-one of 55 fragments were analyzed through radiocarbon assays, which showed them to date to between 2300 and 5000 B.C. The wood choice and manufacturing techniques were comparable to other Archaic Period Indian Tribes. The discovery led to the site's addition to the National Register of Historic Places in March 2001.
