Lake
LaVerne from The Iowa State University Campus and its Buildings,
1859-1979
by H. Summerfield Day (Addendum by Cathy Brown), 1980,
Iowa State University
The first reference to a lake on campus appeared in the November
19, 1914, edition of the Iowa State Student:
O. C. Simonds, the well known landscape
gardener of Chicago, whose services have been donated to the
college by LaVerne W. Noyes, graduate of the class of '72,
spent the first 3 days of this week studying the needs of
the campus.
He gave most of his time to the south
part of the campus, which he thinks could be maintained and
developed as a park, as has been the policy up to this time.
Mr. Simonds thinks it might be possible to make a dam in College
Creek a short distance above the new culvert under the interurban
line. If his suggestion is carried out there would be a lake
about 500 feet long and 100 to 150 feet wide. This would extend
nearly to the new concrete bridge at the Welch street entrance
and cover most of the low ground which is now in grass.
The "culvert under the interurban" was just a few
feet east of Lynn street at Lincoln Way (using current street
names).
Action was taken quickly, for just a month later the paper
carried this report:
"When students come back from vacation
a skating pond will be ready for them," said Supt. Thomas
Sloss today. College Creek is to be dammed just above the
interurban bridge. The water will be raised two feet. This
will make a pond which will extend nearly to Champlin's bridge.
Superintendent Sloss has men working on
the dam at present. The Cardinal Guild will keep the ice cleared
of snow. It is thus assured that the skaters of the college
will have a chance to use their skates this winter.
On January 9, 1915, the paper noted that over 200 people
had enjoyed skating on the new pond the previous night. That
"pond" was welcomed by the skaters, but it was considerably
less elaborate than Mr. Simonds' idea of what the lake should
be.
Skater on Lake LaVerne, ca. 1928
President Pearson presented the Board of Education, at its
meeting on June 15, 1915, letters from Simonds to Noyes and
from Noyes to the Board setting forth the concept of a lake.
Simonds explained how the work might be accomplished and what
needed to be done. Dr. Noyes' letter is of particular interest
and significance:
If agreeable to you, I shall be glad to
bear the expense of constructing a lake at the Iowa State
College Grounds in the valley south of Dean Stanton's house,
substantially in accordance with the accompanying design.
If you accept my offer, I should like to have the work prosecuted
under the direction of Mr. O. C. Simonds. The making of a
lake is, in many respects, like painting a picture, and the
same freedom should be given to the one who designs the outlines
and shapes the banks that would be given to the painter of
a landscape. The work ought to be finished in time for planting
the coming fall, and so should be commenced without delay
and followed up as outlined in the accompanying discussion
and letter signed by said 0. C. Simonds.
Upon receiving from you a letter stating
that your Honorable Board approved of my offer, I will deposit
from time to time, with the college Treasurer, such sums as
may be needed up to ten thousand dollars, and payments can
be made by him upon orders signed by 0. C. Simonds, or his
representative.
The Board unanimously approved acceptance of "the generous
offer" and allocated $500 to help fund the cost of a
new entrance drive from Boone Street to "the main drive
near the Music Building" (Sanitary Building). That is
approximately the present drive west of the Union between
Lincoln Way and Union Drive.
Construction of the new lake began in September and was substantially
completed, except for plantings, by December.
The name "Lake LaVerne" was suggested at a Story
County Alumni meeting on May 10, 1916, and was formally approved
by the Board the following month.
Spring Flood of Lake LaVerne, 1915
The improvements of the lake did not last long. Spring rains,
and sometimes floods, brought in large amounts of silt. Various
methods were attempted digging, dredging and hosing to reduce
the amount of sediment, but none was successful. Some years
there was enough water to permit skating when the lake froze
in the winter. But much of the time there was only a disreputable
creek bed often referred to by the students as "Lake
LaMud."
View of Lake LaVerne from Southwest end in 1933
Engineering plans for modifications to improve the appearance
were started in 1928 by Dean Marston, but funds to implement
them were not forthcoming until 1933 when a Civilian Conservation
Corps project provided manpower to begin construction of a
channel to bypass the lake when siltladen runoff from the
creek occurred. This was a concrete conduit installed on the
south side of the lake. That work was completed and the lake
filled the following spring. Stone riprap was placed on the
banks in 1937 and 1938 along with upstream silting beds.
Reopening of Lake LaVerne after CCC Excavation, 1934
The bypass conduit did not eliminate all silting and by 1959
it became necessary to dredge the lake to remove the accumulation
of sediment. This was done in the spring of that year by two
alumni, R. R. Manatt '21 and J. D. Armstrong '37, without
charge to the college. Modifications were made in the bypass
system in 1963.
Since then the lake has been well maintained and is a campus
attraction, especially when the swans, Lancelot and Elaine,
sometimes with four or five small cygnets accompanying them,
grace the surface of the lake.
Addendum by Cathy Brown (FP&M): The
lake has suffered in recent years from a nutrient rich environment
resulting in unattractive floating algae blooms in mid summer.
To remedy this problem in 1995 the university developed a
construction project to address some of the water quality
issues. The project included dredging, rerouting of storm
sewers, installation of a 15 gpm well, installation of submerged
aerators, rip rap treatment on north shoreline, installation
of a swan nesting island, handrails added to College Creek
wing walls and installation of new plantings.
A small taskforce of university staff continues to research
the water quality to identify additional strategies for improved
appearance and morphology of the lake.
LaVerne
W. Noyes
ISU
Student, Manufacturer and Philanthropist
 Lake
LaVerne is named for Mr. LaVerne W. Noyes, the inventor and
businessman who donated much of the expertise and funding
for the construction of the lake. Mr. Noyes was born in Genoa,
N.Y. on January 7 1849, the son of Leonard and Jane Noyes.
He and his family moved to Springville, Iowa in 1854. He attended
ISU and received his B.S. in General Science in 1872. In addition
to his interests in science and engineering, he was one of
the inaugural members of the Crescent Literary Society he
helped form in 1870. At ISU, he met Ida Elizabeth Smith (ISU
1874) of Charles City, and they were married in 1877. He went
to work inventing haying tools that were manufactured by U.S.
Wind Engine and Pump Co. of Batavia, Illinois. By the early
1880's he had formed a Chicago company to manufacture dictionary
stands and farm equipment.
Through his work
with U.S. Wind Engine, Mr. Noyes became acquainted with another
inventor, Thomas Perry, who had developed revolutionary wind-power
technology while working for this company. Since U.S. Wind
Engine rejected Perry's ideas, in 1883 Noyes founded a Chicago
company called Aermotor, Co., to manufacture highly efficient
wind engines. These "windmills" were developed using meticulous
experimentation, and were 87% more efficient than the common
wooden wheels in use at the time. This business was very successful,
and is still one of the major manufacturers of wind-driven
pumps today.
In 1914, Mr. Noyes
wanted to help beautify the ISU campus so donated the services
of O.C. Simonds, a famous landscape gardener, to study the
needs of the campus. Mr. Simonds recommended damming College
Creek to make a lake. The lake was built in 1915, with Mr.
Noyes paying the $10,000 price of construction. The lake is
now a small impoundment that fills the old valley and bed
of College Creek where it crossed into the campus from its
source south of the city of Ames.
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