Commissioned and opened to the public in 1950, Sherling Lake was part of the Alabama Department of Conservation's effort to construct public fishing lakes throughout Alabama in the 1940s. Greenville Chamber of Commerce President A.G. Johnson spearheaded the idea of submitting a bid to the Department of Conservation to include Greenville in those plans. The family of Daniel M. Sherling and W.T. Smith Lumber Company donated the property for the lake in October 1947. The facility was named for Sherling, who died before construction began. Covering about 300 acres, the site was donated to the state, which transferred title of the lake to the City of Greenville in 1970 with the understanding that any future recreation plans would need approval from the Alabama Department of Conservation. In 1991, a portion of the property surrounding the lake was leased to Sunbelt Golf for construction of a 36-hole golf course as part of the Retirement Systems of Alabama's Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. The course, Cambrian Ridge, opened in 1993.