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The lake was dug by the Army in the early 1940s as a source of drinking water for troops at Fort Jackson.
• The name is often misspelled. It’s K-A-T-H-A-R-I-N-E.
• Its source is Gills Creek.
• It is 153 acres and about 10 feet deep.
• It’s known as the only lake in Columbia where people can ski.
• Before Lake Katharine, a lake and recreation area known as Bowers Beach was built along Kilbourne Road about 1920.
SOURCE: The State; “Bowers Beach, A Brief History,” by Charlton Wells Bowers Jr.
At 6:30 a.m., Claudia Guignard settled into a wicker chair on her back porch with a cup of coffee.
After work, about 6 p.m., she found herself back again — gazing over the undisturbed surface of Lake Katharine with a glass of white wine.
“It’s cooler down there by the water,” she said, gesturing to a simple wood dock with matching Adirondack chairs perched at one end, “so sometimes we sit down there.”
Lake Katharine is the largest and deepest in a chain of lakes extending from Columbia through Forest Acres to Arcadia Lakes.
To most in the Midlands, “the lake” means Lake Murray. But the people who live on Lake Katharine say they have all the benefits of lake living — close to downtown.
In the summer, children can ski and wakeboard and go tubing. Nature lovers scout for wildlife. Fishermen cast for the occasional catfish, bass or brim.
“I pinch myself every day,” said Tim Kana, who owns both a rowing scull and a runabout, with a motor.
The peaceful lure of the lake has kept Kana in Columbia.
He found a house on Lake Katharine 25 years ago, before it became an exclusive neighborhood of homes that can go for $350,000 to $1 million or more.
“We like to just cruise the edge of the lake and marvel at folks’ houses and see our friends and wave to them — that sort of thing,” Kana said.
He calls Lake Katharine “a little bit of nature in the heart of the city,” just four miles from Main Street.
He admires the great blue herons and snowy white egrets, cormorants and Canada geese.
Bald eagles nest in remote pines. Hawks float overhead.
The lake was built in the early 1940s as a reservoir for nearby Fort Jackson.
When the Army’s lease was up, the property returned to its owner, the late Burwell Manning, who named the lake for his wife Katharine. (The name often is misspelled.)
Manning built homes along the lake’s shore in the 1950s and 1960s. In recent years, a new generation of homeowners has razed some of the originals — including the one where author James Dickey lived — to put up expansive new homes.
Ninety homes now line the shore, by assessor John Cloyd’s count.
Bruce and Claudia Guignard lived on nearby Shady Lake for 22 years, hoping for a home on Lake Katharine. Two years ago, they moved over to Kathwood Drive.
Now, when Claudia Guignard talks about the view from her porch, it sounds like she’s describing a painting.
She loves watching summer storms come in over the lake.
The sunsets are gorgeous in autumn.
In winter, the light is more dramatic and clear.
Wildlife returns each spring.
Guignard said she enjoys having people over — so she can share the view.
Reach Hinshaw at (803) 771-8641.
