The Potter's Lake Protection and Rehabilitation District was created in 1976 to maintain, protect and improve the quality of the lake and its watershed for the mutual good of the members and the lake environment.

Although the District's official name is Potter's Lake... the lake itself has been referred to as Potter's Lake, Potters Lake or Potter Lake. Because the WDNR refers to it as Potter Lake, and the fact that the lake is actually named after John Fox Potter, we believe that's the correct version of the name.

John Fox Potter, nicknamed "Bowie Knife Potter," was a controversial, nineteenth-century politician, lawyer, Wisconsin judge and a member of Congress. After his political career came to an end in 1866, Potter returned to East Troy, Wisconsin where he practiced law until his death on May 18, 1899. He was interred in Oak Ridge Cemetery in East Troy. You can read more about John Potter on our History page.

Potter Lake is a small seepage lake located on the far northeast end of the Sugar-Honey Creek Watershed. As a seepage lake, Potter Lake is highly dependent upon its watershed area, which encompasses about 576 acres in the Town of East Troy. Of the 576 acres, approximately 43 percent are urban and 57 percent rural.

The lake is formed from a shallow depression at the base of a moraine. The lake has a total volume of 1,304 acre-feet, with an average depth of about 8 feet. Approximately 19 percent of the lake is less than 3 feet deep. The lake level is only partially controlled by a culvert (dam), maintained by the District, located near the Public Launch on Highway L. The navigable lake area is 162 acres, and the shoreline is approximately 2.2 miles. The maximum depth of Potter Lake is 26 feet.