The original Ragged Mountain Reservoir was established in 1885 to meet the increasing demand for water by Charlottesville and the University of Virginia. Prior to this, water was obtained from scattered springs about town. The dam is an earth structure, 45 feet high with a dry-stacked stone interior, and is still functional. The lake drains approximately 300 acres of watershed and is fed by springs and small inlets; the largest one enters from the south under Interstate 64. The surface area of the lake averages about 14 acres.

In 1908 a second dam, known as Mayo’s Rock Dam, was constructed 2400 feet downstream of the original impoundment near what is now Camp Holiday Trails. With the addition of this 50-acre lake, the total drainage area increased to 1216 acres and water capacity from 190 to 620 million gallons. Although separated by the old dam, the two lakes are interconnected and function as one body.

By the 1920s water demand again began to outpace supply, and the City looked to the Blue Ridge Mountains for relief. In 1925 a small dam was constructed on the Moorman’s River (immediately below what is now the Sugar Hollow Dam) and an 18″ cast iron pipe was buried 13½ miles to feed directly into the Ragged Mountain Reservoir. This pipeline, capable of carrying four million gallons per day, is still in use. The Sugar Hollow Reservoir was completed in 1949 and feeds both the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir (completed in 1966) via the Moorman’s River and Ragged Mountain Reservoir through the cast iron pipe.

In 1953 a local timber dealer contacted the City in regard to buying timber on the Ragged Mountain watershed. The following year a study was undertaken by the Virginia Division of Forestry (now the Virginia Department of Forestry) which recommended that the property be selectively cut with special consideration for erosion control to protect the watershed. Between 1954 and 1958, 2½ million board feet of lumber were removed, with sale proceeds going to the City. No timber harvesting has taken place since then.

In the early days of the University, the area was apparently a popular get-away for adventurous students. The hills were described as “wild and dreary” by Edgar Allen Poe in the short story A Tale of the Ragged Mountains. Though written later in his life, it draws from his experience as a University student in the mid-1820s.

Well into this century subsistence farming was a way of life for Ragged Mountain residents. A study commissioned by the University of Virginia Civic Club in 1911 found the populace to be largely unschooled and well below the poverty level. Most families got by with vegetable gardens and a few hogs and chickens that could forage on the hillsides for nuts and roots. Some employment was to be found in sassafras and lumber mills, and chestnut trees could be sold for utility poles ($1.50 per pole in 1911). Some mining took place in the 1800s, principally for lead and zinc. In the mid-1800s a lead mine in the vicinity served as a source of bullets for the Confederate Army.(1)

Other than a caretaker’s residence near the lower Reservoir Dam, there are no occupied dwellings on the 980-acre property. Ample evidence exists, however, of old homesteads, pastures, and logging roads. If not bisected by Interstate 64, the area would best be described today as relative wilderness.

Due to the property’s steep terrain and poor accessibility it has remained relatively free from public access. The lakes are known to local sportsmen for their excellent fishing and that remains the primary recreational activity. In recent years, illegal hunting and all-terrain vehicle trespassing have escalated.

(1) An Investigation of Conditions in the Ragged Mountains of Virginia, published by the Civic Club of the University of Virginia 1912