For many years the idea of draining the shallow Lake Mattamuskeet intrigued farmers and developers. Patterned after similar projects in Holland, large scale drainage operations to convert the lake bottom to farmland began in 1914. The world’s largest pumping plant at the time was built, capable of moving 800,000 gallons of water per minute. Three different companies owned Lake Mattamuskeet during this venture. The first, New Holland Farms, Inc., incorporated the town of New Holland and began development. In 1918 the project was sold to North Carolina Farm Company which added a railroad before going bankrupt in 1923. In 1925 the New Holland Corporation took over the project and electricity was added. The farming operation was enlarged to 13,000 acres. Eventually, the scheme was abandoned as impractical and too expensive, but the lake had been drained three times already. In 1934 the United States government purchased the Lake Mattamuskeet holdings for $311,950 and established the Lake Mattamuskeet Migratory Bird Refuge.
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The CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) helped transform the farming operation and pumping plant into a wildlife refuge and hunting/fishing lodge. The smokestack was modified into an observation tower. Lodge renovations were completed in 1937. In 1972 the Refuge was closed to goose hunting and the lodge closed in 1974. In 2007 ownership of the lodge was transferred to the State of North Carolina. Restorations are planned.
There is hunting of deer and waterfowl at certain times of year on the refuge, and also fishing and blue crabs in the lake and adjacent canals.
The Swan Days Festival is an annual event celebrating the return of the Alaskan tundra swan to the Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge held every December. There are nature exhibits, educational activities, food vendors, local arts and crafts, bird exhibits by Sylvan Heights Bird Park and birds of prey with Steve Hoddy of EarthQuest. There were speakers regarding the CCC Company 424 history, about the history of the lake and about trapping. There were four tram tours that went along areas of the lake where visitors can’t normally drive this time of year. The tours started at 7:00 AM, and ran about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, with the last one starting at 2:20 PM.
There was a slight weather issue this year; it had rained about 3 inches by Saturday, and kept raining off and on all day. The trams still ran, a little different route than planned. Everyone that went on the tram tours said they saw a lot of birds and were glad they went, but they were cold. Tents were put up Friday, but the area was still wet and as people and vehicles moved around, it got pretty muddy. Some of the vendors canceled. The Sylvan Heights birds moved up on our patio and the birds of prey demonstration moved to the school parking lot. We had a lot of visitors in the Visitor Center, and good sales in the gift shop.
Pictured above is a Coscoroba swan, native of South America; a Nene, also known as a Hawaiian goose, which is the state bird of Hawaii; and a male and female wood duck.
Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge is on North Carolina’s largest lake, Lake Mattamuskeet, which is 40,000 acres. The lake is 14 miles long and 5 miles wide and varies in depth from 0.5 to 4 feet with an average depth of 1.5 feet. The Refuge was established in 1934 and consists of 50,180 acres of open water, marsh, timber, and croplands. It provides habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife. Over 100,000 tundra swan, Canada geese, snow geese and 18 species of ducks overwinter on the refuge annually.
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We’re here at the refuge workamping for the month of December. We were told we’d be working 24 hours, with Curt doing maintenance and me in the gift shop/visitor center. This first weekend we worked with another couple who have been here since November 1st. There isn't a lot of maintenance on the weekend so the guys were in the visitor center with us when they weren’t busy. The office people, biologists, and maintenance people don’t work weekends. We aren’t sure what our schedule will be after the weekend.
We have a full hookup site, concrete pad, beside four employee houses across from a canal. There is spotty cell service throughout the refuge, sometimes 3G 3 bar at our coach. We can text and have been able to use our cell phones. We can usually use the internet on our phones, but it’s pretty slow with our wifi hotspot on the computer. At the visitor center there is no cell service at all but we can hook up to their internet.
