Lake Mitchell

The Lake at a Glance

Lake Mitchell is an Alabama Power reservoir on the Coosa River, formed by Mitchell Dam — the company's second hydroelectric plant, completed in 1923 following a Federal Power Commission license granted in 1921. The dam and lake are named for James Mitchell, Alabama Power's president from 1912 to 1920, an internationally connected electrical engineer who arrived in Alabama in 1911 to survey the state's hydroelectric potential. The dam sits at a spot on the river once called Duncan's Riffle, downstream from Lay Dam and upstream from Jordan Dam, both also Alabama Power projects on the same river.

The lake covers 5,850 acres with 147 miles of shoreline, stretching roughly 14 miles along the Coosa River and straddling the line between Chilton and Coosa counties near the town of Verbena. Its central location — under an hour from Birmingham, Montgomery, and within reasonable range of Tuscaloosa — gives it genuine appeal as a weekday-commutable lake rather than a purely weekend destination, a distinction that sets it apart from more rural Alabama Power lakes further from a metro core.

What Buyers Need to Know First

Lake Mitchell holds a genuinely unusual distinction among Alabama Power's reservoirs: it operates as a run-of-river lake, meaning its water level stays fairly constant year-round rather than following the seasonal drawdown pattern of storage lakes like Lay or Logan Martin upstream. But the regulatory reality buyers need to understand first is the same as any Alabama Power lake: dock and shoreline construction runs through Alabama Power's shoreline permitting program, governed by shared guidelines covering Lay, Mitchell, Jordan, and Bouldin lakes together — not a county or state agency, and not automatically transferred to a new owner at closing.

Alabama Power charges no fee for an initial dock permit or for transferring an existing one to a new owner — a genuine cost advantage compared to lakes governed by TVA or the Army Corps of Engineers, where transfers typically carry a real published fee. Property tax runs low across both Chilton and Coosa counties, and the lake's tight inventory of roughly 20 homes and 30 lots at any given time means buyers should be prepared to move decisively once a suitable property appears rather than expecting extensive comparison shopping the way a larger Alabama lake market allows.

Ready to connect with a verified Lake Mitchell specialist?

Tell us what you’re looking for and we’ll match you with someone who knows this lake.