Terry Lake… According to an old diary, Terry Lake was the dream of early pioneers and settlers. The early pioneers who built artificial lakes and ditches turned prairie land into farm land.
Peter Terry came to Colorado in 1871 after serving in the Civil War. He filed a homestead claim for 160 acres and farmed the land for twenty years. He and his wife Sarah (Peck) and two daughters lived on the homestead. He had a large cherry and apple orchard where Terry Shores is now located.
In 1890 the Larimer-Weld Reservoir Company bought his homestead and other homesteads nearby. It was a wise purchase because the land contained a natural basin which was converted into a 450 acre reservoir. It took four years to complete the Terry Lake Reservoir.
Today, the lake holds 8,145 acre-feet of water when full, and the water is 35 feet deep at the south end by the dike which is a mile around.
Daniel Gregory and his son John came from Nebraska to help build the dike and reservoir. It took a great deal of planning for the construction of this large irrigation reservoir. First the land had to be surveyed and all the trees cleared away. The equipment consisted of “fresnos”, scrapers and horse pulling slips, with 20 two-horse teams doing the excavation. Black powder was used to break p the ground and men with wheelbarrows transported the dirt. The Gregory’s also had much to do with the development of the North Poudre Irrigation Company. They constructed the road east of Terry Lake which is appropriately named “Gregory Road”.
After Mr. Terry sold the land, he moved with his family northwest of Welling to Boxelder Valley. There the family lived on 160 acres in a sod house. He supervised installation of the head gates and helped build one of the ditches. In those days hand labor was required for digging ditches with shovels and picks. The Terry family later moved to Fort Collins. Mr. Terry died in 1933 at the age of 93.
The outlet at the south end of Terry Lake empties into Eaton Ditched (named for Governor Benjamin Eaton).
The island on the west side of the lake is a serene nature setting and haven for wildlife. It is a sanctuary for the geese, pelicans and waterfowl.
Sailboats and small fishing boats are seen on this private lake in the summertime. Large cottonwood trees planted many years ago line the rocky shores. In the autumn, the water is at a lower level creating a beautiful sandy beach.
The rock dike at the south end of the lake was build as a WPA project. (WPA is “Works Progress Administration”, a federal program created in 1935 to proved jobs for the unemployed during the Great Depression).
Larimer County boasts of many beautiful lakes which have been here since the turn of the (19th) century. Other lakes northeast of Fort Collins are Richard Lake, Rocky Ridge Reservoir, Long Pond and Lindenmeier Lake. All the lakes are beautiful, but Terry Lake is unique and has a fascinating history.
— Arlene Ahlbrandt