Program to feature Lake Mattamuskeet

(Mar. 26, 2002)   —   Lake Mattamuskeet in Hyde County, the state’s largest natural lake, will be the topic for a public presentation on Wednesday, April 3, hosted by East Carolina University’s North Carolina Studies Program. 

Dr. Lewis C. Forrest Jr., the executive director of The Mattamuskeet Foundation, will discuss the lake in an address at 7:30 p.m. at the Willis Building at the corner of First and Read Streets. The title of his presentation is “Lake Mattamuskeet: Past and Present.” The program is free and the public is invited.

Maury York, director of the N.C. Studies Program, said the presentation will cover the period from pre-history to the present including Native American settlements in the vicinity, the period of European contact, and the 20th Century efforts to drain the lake for agricultural purposes. “Dr. Forrest will show slides of important historical photographs and documents,” said York. “He will discuss the Civilian Conservation Corps efforts to convert the area into a waterfowl refuge during the 1930s as well as current efforts to stabilize the historic Mattamuskeet Lodge.”

A native of Carteret County, Forrest has spent the past 13 years researching the history of the lake. He is the author of “Lake Mattamuskeet: New Holland and Hyde County,” published in 1999, and is the founder of The Mattamuskeet Foundation.