22 Nebraskaland • June 2025
ow have I not been here before?"
I said as I pulled into the park's
entrance, camera in my lap as I
eyed the blues of the water and
greens from the surrounding forest.
"Uh, where are we?" said Skarlett
Jones, a family friend who, along
with her friend, Delaney Madson, had
decided an afternoon away from the
metro to relax and fi sh a little seemed
like a fantastic idea.
"Rockford Lake," I replied, sitting atop
a hill overlooking the state recreation
area as a lone boat and accompanying
skier made waves across the water while
one RV sat in the campground.
"It's gorgeous," Jones said, her eyes
surveying everything in front of her.
The area was so beautiful that
questions naturally began to form. How
have I not fi shed here before? Is this area
always so void of people? Is this place
new?
No, not new. Just new to me.
The History of
Rockford Lake
The Rockford Township was founded
by William Girl in 1858 and is named for
the rock quarries near Mud Creek. More
than a century later, Mud Creek featured
a prominent role in the development
of Rockford Lake State Recreation
Area. According to records from the
Gage County Historical Society, the
Mud Creek Watershed in the Rockford
Township became Nebraska's fi rst
watershed to include recreation as an
additional primary purpose.
The lake had originally been planned
as a 62-acre fl ood-control structure,
but the Small Watersheds Act of 1962
broadened its scope, increasing its size
for recreation purposes as well.
In a 1970 Lincoln Journal-Star article,
Dean Terrill writes: "What distinguishes
the 150-acre recreation jewel [Rockford
Lake State Recreation Area] is the
funding behind it, fi rst of its kind in
Nebraska."
The article states that the
combination of federal and Game and
Parks Commission funds, a 50/50
'H
