Steam- and water-powered saw mills were built on the lake and on the river upstream to prepare lumber for shipment overseas.

Sawdust and other debris from the mills polluted the lake, killed the fish and clogged up the navigable channels.

[6] Notable people buried there include the Member of Upper Canada Legislature Alexander McDonell[7] and poet Isabella Valancy Crawford (1853–1887).

[3] There is a small marina on the lake in downtown Peterborough with 92 open slips where boats may be moored on a daily, weekly or seasonal basis.

[10] The lake is used for special events such as wakeboarding, dragon boating, the Peterborough triathlon and the Festival of Lights.

The Little Lake not being safe for teams to cross on the ice, we were obliged to walk over,—our children and luggage being carried by our servants, and some men who kindly assisted.

[13] In the 1820s, before a dam had been erected at the locks below Little Lake, the Otonabee was shallow and could easily be forded on foot opposite the old steamboat landing beside the Shaw & Fortune steam mill.

[20] John Stephenson of Ashburnham (East City) was one of the first to build canoes other than birchbarks or dugouts in the Peterborough region.

Stephenson had a water-powered mill for planing lumber on the east bank of the Otonabee, just north of the present Hunter Street bridge.

[22] In 1867 Ludgate & McDougall had a large steam sawmill built by Samuel Dickson in active operation on the east shore of Little Lake, one of several in the area.

[23] The sawmills dumped sawdust and other debris into the river, making navigation difficult and killing the fish.

Residents near Little Lake were forced to move away by the noxious odours from decaying wood and rotting fish.

[18] In 1887 the Mayor of Peterborough petitioned the Governor General of Canada to undertake dredging of Little Lake, which was under the jurisdiction of the Dominion Government and formed part of the Trent Valley Navigation project that was then in progress.

Material dredged from the lake could be used to build up and widen Crescent Street, thus serving a double purpose.

[2] The route chosen by Richard Birdsall Rogers involved a series of dams and locks on the river south from Lakefield.

[3] Early in the 20th century several large manufacturers moved to Peterborough to take advantage of the hydroelectric power stations built at the north end of Little Lake.

[27] By 1930 it had been recognized that Little Lake was polluted with industrial chemicals, which killed large numbers of fish in the river.

However, in June 2018 the Peterborough Public Health department said it was safe to swim and catch fish in the lake.