Otsego Lake was the long-time summer residence of Arthur Compton.

During World War II, he was a key figure in the Manhattan Project that developed the first nuclear weapons.

In the late 1950s, noted American architect and Frank Lloyd Wright protege, William Adair Bernoudy, designed Compton's retirement home on the lake directly across from Otsego Lake State Park.

The bottom shoal composed of sand and light gravel forms many "drop-offs" and holes.

[3] There are an abundance of boats that frequent the lake during the busy times of year which bring along many skiers and boarders, as well as many tubing activities.