• Did you know that Lake Delton is a man made lake containing 600,000,000 gallons of water with

an average depth of 12 feet?

• Did you know that on June 9th, 2008 heavy rains caused a breach near the dam near County A?

This started a catastrophic chain of events that resulted in the complete drainage of Lake Delton

in just over an hour. This disaster caused the complete destruction of three homes, which were

washed away in the torrent of flowing water rushing into the Wisconsin River as well as the loss of

another two homes that had their foundations destroyed. The Lake was reduced to a muddy basin

for one year as repairs were made. On June 9th, 2009, exactly one year later, Lake Delton had

been repaired and restored to its original state.

• Did you know that as volunteers took to the drained lake to clean the debris from the lake floor,

there were many interesting articles found in the bed of Lake Delton? Items from guns, rare coins,

boat motors, rail-road ties, antique telephones. and even human bones were recovered.

• Did you know that in an effort to re-stock Lake Delton to get it back to its pristine fishing

condition, over 9000 walleye fingerlings and 9 million minnows were released into Lake Delton?

• Did you know that it took 12,000 truckloads of sand and several tons of rocks to fill the gap that

was washed away during the draining of Lake Delton?

• Did you know that Lake Delton was created by wealthy Chicago construction company owner,

William J. Newman in 1926? At an expense of $600,000.00?

• Did you know that Lake Delton has been the home to the Tommy Bartlett Water Show for over 50

years? Located just across the Bay from Ravina this iconic show, which is the longest running ski

show production in the world, has entertained millions of tourists over the years.

• Did you know that Lake Delton developer William J. Newman also built a state of the art resort

on Lake Delton called Dell View with a price tag of $400,000.00? This amazing resort had a

giant beach, golf course, trout pond, fish hatchery, horse stables, baseball diamonds, amusement

park, and a nightclub boasting the largest dance floor in the state! More remarkable is that rooms

started at $2.50 a day.

• Did you know that the Town of Lake Delton holds the State record for hottest day recorded? On

July 13, 1936 the temperature reached 114 degrees. A perfect day to be playing in the waters of

Lake Delton!

• Did you know in the 1970’s there were several spots along Lake Delton that did not exceed 5 feet

in depth? In certain areas it was possible to walk from one shore to another without one getting

his or her head wet. This was due to sand run-off from Mirror Lake. Extensive dredging was done

to get Lake Delton to a 12 foot average depth.

lake delton

Ravina Bay Bar & Grill

231 E. Durkee St.

Lake Delton, WI 53940

608-253-0433

608-253-0433