History
Construction started on the Lake Arrowhead dam in the late 1960's and ended in the early 1970's. The development has an illustrious history. Purcell Company, Inc (Formerly Diamondhead Corporation) is the current owner of the Lake Arrowhead Property. Purcell is an offshoot of the great Malcom P. McLean of McLean Trucking. Malcom McLean revolutionized the transport of goods and cargo when he invented the metal shipping container. He was one of the most influential people in the growth of the world's economy of the 20th Century. For those of you that wondered, the "P" middle initial of Malcom P. McLean is for Purcell.

Lake Arrowhead opened for development in 1973 and there was a rush of home building. At the time I-575 did not exist and Lake Arrowhead was harder to get to than it is today. The initial development pace slowed down some, the community continued to grow steadily and over 1,000 homes were built from 1973 to 2006.

Diving at Lake Arrowhead - Many thanks to Chris Eckles for this contribution
Scuba diving is, I think, forbidden by the covenants, and rather unsafe in a small lake with motor boats weaving around. . .

Having said this, when I moved in 21 years ago, there were stories. One was of a group - that got permission - that went down into the deep. I believe that Lake Arrowhead is rather deep, certainly deep enough to worry about
re-ascent. There is an old town down there, I hear. Not much left, but the divers found a chimney.

If you took a camera, and promised to take and publish pictures, you might get permission to do it again. You'd need a PLAN that included one or more safety boats that kept casual boaters away. And proof that the safety boats would not mow you down when you came up. And you'd need to convince them (Johnson?) that you could ascend under your boat and not 75 feet away. You would of course have to plan this for a day not very important to most boaters, certainly a weekday at the least.

The water is also very cold, I think. Sure, wet suits, but. . .

Old stories also tell of many other interesting things, such as a float plane that landed in the lake several times with permission).

New Development On The Horizon
Lake Arrowhead's destiny changed forever when an AJC article on September 6 of 2006 announced that the Johnson Development Company is partnering with Purcell to develop the remaining 5,800 acres of Lake Arrowhead. Johnson Development Company is renowned for it's expertise in developing large communities. They were the developers of the hugely successful Towne Lake and BridgeMill neighborhoods. Their vision for Lake Arrowhead GA is exciting and the improvements will be substantial.

Extreme Makeover
ABC's Extreme Makeover identified a family in Lake Arrowhead as a deserving family. Construction began on the home on January 13, 2007. Many people of the community assisted in the construction. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition handed out over 3,000 hardhats and shirts to volunteers eager to help the family. Read the story of the family on ABC's website here. To see the day to day progress of building the brand new 5,000 sq. ft. house, click here.

Your Opportunity To Contribute
If you were in Lake Arrowhead since the beginning, you have a ton of information about the community. If you would like to share pictures and the history on this site, please contact me below.