Mountain Lake (Virginia)
lake in the United States of America
Mountain Lake is a freshwater lake located in Giles County near Newport, Virginia in the United States. Along with Lake Drummond in the Great Dismal Swamp, it is one of only two natural lakes in Virginia. It was originally known as Salt Pond, as it was where cattle were given salt.
The area is within the Mountain Lake Wilderness Cluster.
Lake
Mountain Lake typically covers about 50 acres (200,000 m2), and its level was largely constant at an elevation of 3,875 feet (1,181 m) during the 19th and 20th centuries. The first known written evidence of the lake was by Christopher Gist of the Ohio Land Surveying Company, in 1751. It subsequently became known as Salt Pond.
Natural lakes are common well to the north, where the Appalachian Range was subject to geologically recent glacial activity. But the basis on which this lake—the only natural one in the southern Appalachians—exists has been the source of much speculation. Recent scientific studies indicate that an unusual combination of natural processes created the lake, which is maintained by a fissure at the bottom that provides an outlet for both sediment and water and prevents the lake from otherwise simply becoming a bog.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Mountain Lake (Virginia)” as lake in the United States of America. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as lake in the United States of America. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1950851. VIAF identifies the subject as 52144814326626773408. Authority coordinates are 37.360, -80.534. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1751.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Mountain Lake (Virginia)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Mountain Lake (Virginia) primary sources, Mountain Lake (Virginia) archive and Mountain research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Mountain Lake (Virginia)”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Mountain Lake (Virginia)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.