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Walker Pond

Coordinates: 42°08′20″N 72°03′35″W / 42.13889°N 72.05972°W / 42.13889; -72.05972
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Walker Pond
Walker Pond
Location of Walker Pond in Massachusetts, USA.
Location of Walker Pond in Massachusetts, USA.
Walker Pond
Location of Walker Pond in Massachusetts, USA.
Location of Walker Pond in Massachusetts, USA.
Walker Pond
LocationSturbridge, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°08′20″N 72°03′35″W / 42.13889°N 72.05972°W / 42.13889; -72.05972
Basin countriesUnited States
Surface area104 acres (42 ha)[1]
Average depth7.5 ft (2.3 m)[1]
Max. depth16 ft (4.9 m)[1]
Surface elevation581 ft (177 m)
References[1]

Walker Pond is a body of water in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, situated off Route 49 on the way to Wells State Park.

History

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The pond took its name from settler Rachael "Walker" Smith, a local resident who raised twelve Italian children there.[2] (The house, since demolished, was called the Perez Walker House in memory of Nathaniel Walker's grandson, a prominent townsman.)[3][4] In 1894, the town of Sturbridge voted to rename the pond Tantousque Lake,[5] from an Indian word meaning "located between two breast-shaped hills."[6] The traditional Indian name did not, however, stick.

Fishing

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According to a 1980 survey, the pond contains largemouth bass, chain pickerel, yellow perch, white perch, bluegill, pumpkinseed, brown bullhead, white suckers, and golden and bridled shiners.[1] It is a popular place for ice fishing.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Walker Pond Sturbridge" (PDF). Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
  2. ^ Josiah Temple (1887). History of North Brookfield, Massachusetts. North Brookfield. pp. 769. OCLC 16274445. [1]
  3. ^ George Davis, A Historical Sketch of Sturbridge and Southbridge, 47.[2]
  4. ^ Nina Fletcher Little, American Decorative Wall Painting, 24
  5. ^ Proceedings of the Worcester Society of Antiquity (1894), 106
  6. ^ Levi Chase, The Bay Path and Along the Way, 85
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