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Nature’s Gift to New England
Lake
Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg
At Webster, Massachusetts
“The Boundary Fishing Place—The Neutral Meeting
Ground”
Bluest of blue waters—clear, sparkling, fed
largely by springs—the “Lake with the Long Name” is not only the
largest but the most beautiful lake in Massachusetts. Here, where
once the Indians gathered for peaceful conference and fishing, now
comes a summer colony from far and near to enjoy a vacation beside
its blue waters. All the joys of a real vacation—bathing,
canoeing, sail boating, motor boating, and excellent fishing are
found here, in a setting unrivalled for beauty and charm.
Historians who have delved into Indian lore
declare that the interpretation of the long name is “The Fishing
Place at the Boundaries—The Neutral Meeting Ground,” although much
concerning the origin remains shrouded in mystery. It was at this
place, beside the shores of the big lake, that the Narragansetts,
the Pequots, the Mohegans, and the Nipmucks assembled for their
peace conferences, and took advantage of the excellent fishing for
which the lake has ever been noted.
On the shores of this lake, John Eliot, the
apostle of the Indians, preached to the Nipmucks, and thru his
fervor and piety, converted many to Christianity. Not far from the
shores is an Indian Burial Ground, where many of these earlier and
original settlers were buried. Many Indian relics have been found
about the shores of the lake.
Rich in historical lore, far antedating the
arrival of the white man to its shores, its beauty has remained
down thru the years, and the sparkle of its blue waters, clear and
cool, continues to charm all who see this natural gem,--“Nature’s
Gift to New England.”
The lake is in reality three bodies of water
joined by narrow channels, and with the “Middle Pond” the largest
of the three. Each of the three areas has its devotees, who will
vigorously declare that the particular spot on which their cottage
is located is best of all. For there is not a single location that
is without its charm, and every spot along the shores is
beautiful.
The wooded shores, where the tepees of the
Indians were once located are now the sites of several hundred
summer cottages, but the extensive shore line still contains
excellent sites for many more, in what is now virgin forest.
At these cottages, where the summer colony
swells the population of Webster by more than 2500, the modern
conveniences of town life are available—electricity, telephone,
and daily deliveries to the cottages from the markets, groceries,
fruit, and other stores are made every day, combining the joys of
a summer vacation with all the necessities and luxuries of town
life immediately available.
The quiet and peace of a summer holiday—a
restful vacation in a setting unrivaled for beauty—with the woods
and the waters providing all the joys that nature affords, is
offered the individual or the family, and the colony is constantly
growing. Here is a real vacation spot, a place that brings back
people year after year to the delights that make summer ideal.
Besides Blue Waters
The lake provides seventeen miles of shore line,
and in spite of the fact that several hundred cottages are located
here, there is still much of this shore which is virgin forest,
waiting the construction of a summer cottage built along the lines
desired by the owner.
Several islands are located here, adding to the
beauty of the lake that embodies so many charms. Long Island is
the largest of the group, and is located several hundred yards
from Point Pleasant, an island in every sense of the word.
Containing many summer homes, this island, as well as all others,
can be reached only by boat, and finds favor with many because of
its complete isolation from the mainland.
Well Island, Strip Island, Checkerberry Island,
Goat Island are other and smaller bodies of land at the lake.
With the beginning of summer, communities along
the shore spring to life, and not until the necessities of
returning to duties that call at the end of the season, are the
cottages closed, and a regretful farewell given to vacation land
in all that the name implies.
Largest of these communities is Killdeer, where
scores of cottages make this a fair-sized village during the
summer months.
Other popular locations are Birch Island, The
Narrows, Union Point, Wawela Park, Point Breeze, Colonial Park,
Bates Grove, and Loveland. Each has its complement of summer
visitors, coming from many states of the union.
Bates Gove, Point Breeze, and Colonial Park
provide grounds where picnics are conducted every year, and
several hundred gatherings come for a day to enjoy the cool
breeze, delightful bathing, and all the other joys of the day’s
vacation along the shores.
All are reached easily from the main highway
that passes by the lake, from the Connecticut line into
Massachusetts. A drive along the Lake Shore roads unfolds a wealth
of scenic beauty, and excellent views of the blue waters and the
wooded islands of the big lake.
Some Statistics
All the lake is within the boundaries of
Massachusetts, although the extreme southern tip touches the
boundary line of Connecticut. To reach one of the popular
locations, Colonial Park and Indian Inn, it is necessary to pass
thru a short distance that is in Connecticut, but the lake itself
is in Massachusetts, also the Inn and the cottages at Colonial
Park.
The area of the lake is 1442 acres, and this is
contained in the North Pond, Middle Pond and South Pond, all
joined together by narrow channels and each having its own
particular charm. There are 17 miles of shore line, and
overlooking the beauty spot is Sugarloaf Hill, 725 feet above high
water mark at Boston; Woods Hill, 939 feet above, and Mt. Daniel
785 feet above.
Grassy slopes, the green of the woodlands—these
provide the setting for the deep blue of the lake.
The length of the lake is three and one-fourth
miles, and at the widest point, the “Navy Yard,” in the Middle
Pond, the distance is one and one-eighth miles. Here the annual
sail boat races, in which all owners of these craft join, are
conducted in a triangular course of approximately three miles.
The shore line of the North Pond is 5.78 miles;
of the Middle Pond 7.06 miles, and the South Pond 4.17 miles.
Half a million dollars in assessed valuation to
the Town of Webster is represented in the cottages and other lake
buildings along the shores. Within one mile of the lake is the
business district of Webster, making an ideal situation of town
and vacation land.
Daily deliveries of meats, groceries, mild, and
ice are maintained to all the cottages on the lake shore.
For the Fisherman
Residents of Webster have for many years
recognized that the attraction for many of the summer residents is
the fishing, and a constant effort is made to provide excellent
sport. Two active and energetic fish and game associations have as
their objectives, continued good fishing at the lake, and see to
it that the lake is kept stocked with the fish that provide the
greatest sport.
Four, five, and six pound small mouth black
bass-one of the gamiest of all fresh water fish, provide some of
the excellent fishing for which the lake is famous. Also white
perch, yellow pickerel, and many varieties of fish indigenous to
New England’s waters are found here.
Each year the Town of Webster appropriates money
for stocking fish at the lake, supplementing the work of the
sportsmen’s associations whose aim is ever to maintain the lake as
a real fishing place.
Indian Lore
The Lake and surrounding territory is rich in
the lore of the Indians. Not far from its shores is the old Indian
Burial Ground, and excavations often unearth relics in the form of
arrow heads, spear heads and other material of great historical
interest. The last of the Indian “grant” lands surrounding the
lake were sold about 50 years ago, and the money turned over to
the few survivors of the Nipmuck race.
In the neighboring town of Oxford, the
birthplace of Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross,
four miles away from the lake shore, the spot on which the
“Johnson House” once stood is marked and frequently visited by
lake residents. On this spot, August 26, 1696, the entire family
was massacred and scalped by Indians, then engaged in a war with
the whites.
A Nipmuck Indian and the name of the lake
combined to make a most striking design for Webster, in the Air
Mail Week that celebrated twenty years of air mail service in the
United States.
It is of interest to not that the design, which
attracted much attention and favorable comment was the work of
Bartlett High School students in the Art Department.
The design was adopted for the town by the
Philatelic Society and several thousand were mailed from the town
during the week. It was distinctive of local history, and the name
of the lake, with all its g’s, made a novel cachet much in demand
by collectors.
How It’s Pronounced
There is really noting difficult about the
pronunciation of the name of the lake, although it may appear
fearsome at first sight.
Here is the name, split into syllables. Just a
little practice will make you letter perfect:
Char-gogg
a-gogg
Man-chaugg
a-gogg
Chau-bun
a-gun
Ga-maugg
The accents come at the end of each of the above
lines. Try them over slowly, and the entire name will be quickly
and easily pronounced.
Meaning of the Name
Officially, and in accordance with all that
students can find from a study on Indian lore, the meaning of the
name is “The Fishing Place at the Boundaries—The Neutral Meeting
Ground” but that official meaning appears doomed to extinction,
because of an article written in a humorous vein some years ago.
The alleged “meaning” was enthusiastically
adopted by all, and has been many times seriously given as the
meaning of the lake.
It is now so universally “adopted” that the
official name seems doomed to the discard. The writer of the
original article has tried on scores of occasions to explain that
the entire story was a figment of the imagination, the definition
of the name appears to be too good to be dropped.
Here is the story as it originally appeared: “In
the Town of Webster, Mass., near the Conn. State Line, is a very
pretty lake with a very short (?) name. It is Lake
Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg. It has forty-five
letters, fifteen of which are g’s, and nine of which are a’s.” And
how did a lake get such a queer name, you ask?
“Years ago, Indians used to live in this
locality and they liked to fish here. The lake as three divisions:
the upper, the middle and the lower. The fishing was best in the
middle lake, but two tribes of Indians living at opposite ends use
to dispute over which of them had the right to fish there.”
“Finally, they decided to get together and make
a treaty to settle the question. So they met and agreed that those
who lived at the upper end had the right to fish in the upper
lake, that those who lived at the lower end could fish in the
lower lake, but that neither could fish in the middle lake, which
decision was fortunate for the fish.”
“So they named this beautiful lake after terms
of that treaty. Chargoggagogg, ‘you fish on your side,’
Manchaugagogg, ‘I fish on my side,’ and Chaubunagungamaugg,
‘Nobody fish in the middle.’”
In an editorial comment on the hoax, the Webster
Times states:
“The real meaning of the name of the lake
‘Fishing Place at the Boundaries—Neutral Meeting Grounds,’ has
little to commend it, outside of being the truth. In the idle hour
when the imaginative tale of the ‘treaty between the Indians’ was
written, and the ridiculous interpretation of ‘I fish on my side,
you fish on your side, nobody fish in the middle’ was evolved, the
writer never dreamed that the story would be taken as anything but
a fanciful tale.”
“But you cannot convince many that Gen. Pershing
never said, ‘Lafayette we are here!’ or that Daniel Webster never
said ‘Massachusetts, there she stands.’ Neither will many believe
that Paul Revere never made that ride concerning which Longfellow
wrote so poetically. The story of that alleged treaty and the
restrictions concerning the fishing, tickles the popular fancy.
And so it is gleefully adopted, in spite of having no foundation
in fact.”
Some of the Lake’s Earlier Names
In the old maps of the lake and of this
territory, various names appear for the lake, and in earlier days,
these are some of the names applied to the largest inland body of
water in Massachusetts.
- Shaugunaagumkawa
- Chabanaguncomogue
- Chabchaubunkkakowok
- Chaubunakonkkomuk
- Chabanakongkomun
- Chaubamagogum
- Chauabongum
- Chaubunagunagungamaug
Sandy Beaches
Sandy beaches, ideal for bathing, are among the
many wonders of Webster’s beautiful lake. At various points about
the lake are shores of clear white sand which extend gradually out
into the cool waters. Thousands gather at these beaches each
summer.
Some of these are located in front of the
cottages, and are restricted to the use of the occupants of these
cottages.
Others are public or semi-public locations, and
it is here that the thousands of bathers gather during the warm
days of summer.
It is claimed that the Town of Webster has more
swimmers than any other town of its size, for the beautiful sandy
beaches of the lake provide the training places where thousands
have learned to swim.
At Second Island, leased by the Town of Webster
as a public beach, children of this community gather and are
taught to swim under supervised playground instructors. The
beautiful beach, sloping gradually into the clear, cool water, is
an ideal bathing beach. The youngsters may walk out into the water
for many yards from shore, and still remain in shallow water.
Webster’s Beautiful Lake
Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg
EVOLUTION
(The following poem was inspired by a statement
that the State of Massachusetts planned to simplify the name of
the lake and reduce the number of g’s from fifteen to thirteen.)
“Touch not a g of our big Lake!
This message Anti Bobber Brings,
O, spare them for our honor’s sake,
Tho this defiance rings.
We may be right, we may be wrong,
But tho our history slip a cog
It matters not, we like it long,—
Our own Chargoggagogg.
When but a child, I yet recall,
The Webster boys were very fond
Of swimming, summer, spring and fall—
Way down at the Big Pond.
That name! I mind the thrill it give;
I thought of it as vast and round,
And wonderful with wind and wave,
—And Eliot’s shore the bound.
Then, not a hundred years ago,
It grew the proper thing to say
That we would make a little show,
(Considered quite “au fait,”)
This appellation made to hand:—
(If you will just your memories jog
You’ll recollect we thought it grand)
Chaubunagungamaugg.
Should mighty rivers shrink and tame?
Should lofty redwoods not grow taller?
Lo, as I live, the g-full name
Has never grown the small.
And as years passed over you and me,
Like any gurgling springtime frog
We learned to chortle in our glee
This name we loved to hear and see:—Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggagungamaugg.
Now puffed up with our pride were we
As if a pedestal ascending:
We basked in fame of such a name
With all its g’s unending;
And tho our records may be stuck
And tho our history a bog,
We took to water like a duck
—and threw the chunbun in for luck
(To compliment the old Nipmuck)
Thus did emerge our final splurge: —
Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg! “Touch not a g!” No
impious hand
Shall wrest one from that noble name
Fifteen in all their glory stand
And ever shall the same.
For never shall that number down,
Tho Gogg and Magogg shout and thunder;
Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg’s renown
Shall blaze, the beacon of the town,
While nations gaze and wonder.
—Bertha A. Joslin
Here the various playground instructors gather
once a year for the annual picnic and water carnival—the highlight
of the summer season for the youngsters.
On Sundays, Second Island (not in reality an
island) is thronged with people who drive to the spot over a
splendid road to enjoy the delights of a day or a few hours beside
cool waters.
Many other locations are available around the
shores, with diving rafts, surf boards and other accessories to
fun in the water.
Picnics and Outings
Point Breeze, Indian Inn, Bates Grove, and other
locations at the lake are favored picnic place, and here many
thousands gather for a day’s outing. They come to the lake from
many miles around, clubs, societies, churches, Sunday Schools,
employees of industrial plants—all bent on a day of fun with land
and water sports on the program.
Shore and steak dinners, furnished if desired—if
not, the simple basket lunches made up at home and brought to the
picnic grounds. Some of the largest of these outings come to Point
Breeze and Indian Inn, where there are facilities for handling
many hundreds.
Shade trees, covered pavilions, dance space,
dining halls, bathing beaches, with ample parking space for
automobiles; makes these locations ideal for these outings.
At quiet and peaceful Bates Grove many of the
picnics are conducted throughout the summer under the shade of the
pine trees and with all the facilities of bathing at the beaches.
The number of persons who come to the lake on
picnics and outings numbers many thousand every year. Arrangements
for the accommodations of these outings may be made by
communicating with the management of the resorts.
Sail Boat Races
While the lake affords fun and pleasure in all
sorts of water craft, by far the most beautiful spectacle each
year is the series of sail boat races conducted every Sunday. It
is at these races that the “skippers,” many of whom are
manufacturers, business and professional men who live at points
far distant from Webster, vie with each other and test their skill
as sailors.
As many as forty sail boats are to be seen in
these races, and a more beautiful sight is difficult to imagine.
The white sails skimming over the blue surface of the lake,
rounding the buoys, luffing, tacking, all the fun of the race
provides a picture that attracts thousands every Sunday.
The triangular course of the race is kept clear
of motorcraft on this day, for Sunday is “Sailboat Day” in the
middle pond.
The races are conducted by and held under the
supervision of an outstanding group of boys, the Clarence Kozlay
Ship of Sea Scouts. These local boys move to the lake early in the
summer and maintain quarters there until late in the fall. Under
their direction, with handicaps worked out by the group; the races
are held.
These Sea Scouts, in addition to performing a
real service to the summer colony by the supervision of the sail
boat races, also maintain a life saving station and lookout at the
lake, and are ready at any time to rush to the aid of any craft in
distress.
The sail boat races provide one of the prettiest
spectacles of the summer season, and may be seen from a thousand
vantage points about the lake. Automobile parties come here on
Sunday afternoons from miles around to enjoy this spectacle of an
exciting sport that provides so much fun and thrills for the
contestants, all of whom are lake resident for the summer.
Ideal Vacation
Here is peace—quiet—contentment. An ideal
location for those who believe a vacation should be enjoyed in
just this way, far from the life of the town or city, and yet
within reach of all the town and city pleasures.
A summer cottage among the pines, with an
expanse of blue waters and sandy beach in front, excellent
fishing, bathing, canoeing, boating—these are the pleasures that
Webster’s beautiful lake offers for all.
Along the shore line are hundreds of desirable
spots to build, still virgin forest, or you may rent cottages for
a week, a month or the season. The summer hotels provide for the
individual, answering in full the problem, “Where may I spend a
summer vacation.”
Few places in New England offer such a
combination. At the lake is real vacationland, a touch of
wilderness, peace, quiet and rest. And the town is within a mile
of some of the locations, others being slightly more distant.
For those who love the water, here is sport that
cannot be beat. Boating and fishing, and all the kindred delights
of the lake, with the cool breezes at night making sleep a
pleasure, while the world swelters.
Truly the lake with the long name is Nature’s
Gift to New England.
A Real Welcome
The merchants of Webster and every resident
extend a warm and cordial greeting to the hundreds of summer
visitors who come here each summer to occupy the cottages for the
year.
Many of these are old friends, for they come
here year after year, and from long association, become known to
scores of merchants and business men of the town. To all visitors,
Webster extends every courtesy and a real welcome.
The proximity of the town to the lake makes it
possible for all to enter into the community life, to enjoy the
entertainment that the town affords, adding a new zest to their
vacation among people who are pleased to regard them as friends.
Deliveries to all the cottages are made by
merchants, and the stranger who comes for the first year is
quickly welcomed and made one of the community.
For a vacation that contains delights that no
other location can offer, come to the lake with the long name,
Nature’s Gift to New England.
Lake History
Early in the history of this nation, the lake
was discovered, and these early settlers, moving westward from
Boston and Plymouth were charmed with its strange outline, its
clear waters, its fine beaches, and its picturesque
surroundings—even as those who come here today are equally
charmed.
Later on, in the early 1800’s and before the
Town of Webster was created, Samuel Slater, termed “Father of
Cotton Manufacturing Industry in America,” and who had a small
mill at Pawtucket, Rhode Island, learned of the lake, visited it,
and decided to found there an industry that became one of the
greatest in the nation, The Slater Company. Water from the big
lake turned the first wheels of the Slater Mill in 1812.
Long before the white man came, the
Narragansetts, the Pequots, the Mohicans, and the Nipmucks
assembled in friendly conference. Of these the Nipmucks were the
tribe that settled and remained in this locality.
Today there is another assembly at this great
lake—the white men and their families from all points of the
compass, finding here a life that is truly communal, a vacation
spot without peer in New England.
One has but to view the rising sun, a moonlight
night, the glories of a sunset over the waters to realize that the
lake is indeed Nature’s Gift to New England.
The Lake is Located
- One mile from the heart of the business
district of Webster.
- Four miles from Dudley.
- Nine miles from Putnam, Connecticut
- Eleven miles from Southbridge.
- Seventeen miles from Worcester.
- Thirty-three miles from Providence.
- Forty-five miles from Springfield.
- Fifty-five miles from Boston.
Webster, Massachusetts
The town of Webster is situated in the southern
end of Worcester County, about 60 miles inland from Boston and 50
miles from Long Island Sound. Webster borders on the State of
Connecticut and is very near the state line of Rhode Island.
Industrial
Webster is essentially a manufacturing town, and
lies in the heart of one of the most intensely industrial sections
of the world. It is the center of a large industrial output. There
are half a hundred industries in the community and within a ten
mile radius 25 more are located, making the following products:
Cottons, woolens, worsted, optical goods and lenses, cutlery,
machine ship products, foundry work. Linen crash, paper, cotton
yarns, wooden boxes and shooks, paper boxes, cotton warp, shoes,
sheetings, flannels, blankets, leather specialties, chairs,
shuttles, curtain rods, cloth boards, over-coats and suiting
cloth, tags and lens cleaners, dyers and printers, sheet metal
products, silks, rayons, caskets, lumber products, brooms,
curtains, draperies, surgical instruments, etc.
This list of varied products establishes the
claim that Webster and vicinity enjoy the fruits of industry. Much
of the surrounding territory is devoted to agriculture, which
assists in the business of stabilization.
Commercial
Webster has a fine business section with
splendid stores capable of supplying the trading area of 35,000.
There are approximately 175 retail stores and ten wholesale
establishments. Webster is the most important commercial center
between Worcester, Mass., and Norwich, Conn., a distance of 75
miles.
General
The town was incorporated in 1832, and the name
of “Slater” was suggested in honor of the pioneer of textile
manufacturing located in this town. However the manufacturer asked
that the name be in honor of a statesman he greatly admired,
Daniel Webster.
Two railroads enter the town, New York, New
Haven & Hartford, and the Boston & Albany. There are two National
Banks, each with savings departments, and a Savings Bank, also a
co-operative Bank. There are 14 Churches of various denominations,
and an educational system, both public and private, that includes
a junior college in addition to two high schools.
The municipal building, which embodies the town
offices, and auditorium, high school and junior high, is a million
dollar building, one of the finest in the entire state. A
municipally owned water system, supplying pure artesian well
water, is one of the great community assets. The water supplied to
the town of Webster is declared, by government analysis, highest
in purity among the systems of the state.
Essentially a manufacturing community, Webster
is favored by having scores of excellent farms within a short
distance of the business center, supplying farm and dairy products
fresh every day.
One of the splendid institutions of the town is
Webster District Hospital, serving the townspeople and an area for
several miles about the town.
For the golfer who comes to the lake for a
vacation, the Webster-Dudley Golf Club extends a cordial
invitation and offers a special “summer resident” membership for
lake visitors. Throughout the summer scores of lake residents find
all that a golfer could desire, in playing the Webster-Dudley
course.
To the vacationists who come to the lake,
townspeople extend every courtesy and kindness, in order that
their stay may be made as pleasant as possible, creating friendly
atmosphere that adds to the delights of the holiday. Visits and
deliveries to every cottage are made daily to serve the needs of
the summer colony—milk, meats and groceries, laundry, in fact all
the advantages of life in town are found amid the ideal
surroundings of the beautiful lake.
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