The History of Lake Marcel
The majority of the property around Lake Marcel was originally owned by Mr. Ray Warren. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Mr. Warren owned all but 60 acres, which was owned by the Hoss brothers. The Hoss brothers agreed to sell the remaining 60 acres to Mr. Warren in exchange for an agreement that the lake would be named after their late brother, Marcel, who was tragically killed in a truck accident.
The “lake” originally consisted of a beaver pond. Most of the lake as it is seen now was excavated from the beaver pond. As the lake was being 
excavated, the dirt was piled up to form the island at the north end, where beavers are still sometimes spotted. The original dam and fish ladder were completed about 1963. Major modifications to the dam and fish ladder were completed in the 1980s. Lake Marcel has a maximum depth of 17 feet deep and is 33 acres in size. Both underground springs and streams feed the lake. The watershed is 960 acres.
Each year several thousand rainbow trout are stocked in the lake. Other fish in the lake include cutthroat trout, largemouth bass and bluegill. Sterile Asian grass carp are also stocked to control aquatic weeds. Numerous waterfowl and other birds use the lake including ducks, cormorants, mergansers, ospreys, bald eagles and great blue heron.
Lake Marcel is located about halfway between the cities of Carnation and Duvall. The city of Carnation was originally named after the Tolt River. Tolt is an abbreviation of the Snoqualmie Tribal name for the river – Tolthue- which means “Swift Rushing Waters”. A petition was entered to the Washington State Legislature in 1917 to rename the town in honor of Carnation Farms. In the 1870s, the small town of Cherry Valley began about where Duvall is today. Around 1910, the arrival of the railroad necessitated moving much of the town and in 1913 Duvall was incorporated and was named after James Duvall, an early settler and logger.