Bass Lake is an artificial lake in Holly Springs, North Carolina. The lake is owned by the Town of Holly Springs. Bass Lake was purchased in the 1950s by James Harry Cornell, who hosted a fishing club at the private lake. The lake was originally known as Mills Pond. In 1996, Hurricane Fran destroyed Bass Lake Dam and consequently drained the lake; two years later, the Town of Holly Springs purchased the lake site for $230,000. The town rebuilt the dam and restored the lake as a public lake, which opened in 2004.