The latest news about Maine lakes and ponds.

Chapmans Hope to Restore Waterford's Long-Gone Pond

October 23, 2007 - WATERFORD - The pond that had no name has not been seen in Waterford for decades, but residents and officials alike would like to see the historic piece of Waterford history restored. The trouble is, a giant hurdle stands in the way - state restrictions. Here's a bit of the history.

Although the dates vary, as early as 1830, a man by the name of Oliver Hapgood, who had came to Waterford from Massachusetts in 1810, operated a wool carding mill in town. The mill was located south of the Waterford Flat, on the shore of a stream which flows southward and feeds into Bear Pond. Today, it would be located adjacent to the children's playground located not far from the intersection of Route 35 and Sweden Road. The mill needed water, and a stone dam was constructed on the stream which would allow regulated flow through the mill's basement. With the dam in place, a small pond existed near the mill for more than a century.

The mill changed hands over the years, and was last owned and operated by Albert Hamlin in the 1950s. In 1960, Hamlin sold the mill to the Wells family, of Southbridge, Massachusetts, who, in 1963, disassembled the building board by board, and reconstructed it as a feature attraction at the Sturbridge Village living museum that replicates life in New England from the late 1700s to the early 1800s. The building was studied intensely as it was relocated, in order to determine a date of construction. In 1980, John Curtis, the curator of Sturbridge Village at the time, indicated that water-rights could be traced back to Hapgood as far back as 1810. However, Curtis stated that "construction techniques, tool marks, and fastening devices were all characteristic of a date probably no earlier than 1830." Curtis went on to say that the "date of the original construction of the mill remains imprecise."

One more mysterious fact regarding the mill, however, is what happened to the dam that once held water back in the pond. Happy Hamlin Chapman spent a lot of time at the pond as a young girl - it was her father, Albert, who sold it to Sturbridge Village. Both she and her husband, Perry Chapman, have spearheaded an effort to have the dam, and therefore the pond, restored.

"There was a dam there, but I don't remember what happened to it," Happy says, while sifting through the few historic photos of the site which still exist. "I think that when the mill was moved, they took the stones that made up the dam." However it happened, the dam no longer exists, and the Chapmans have set out in an effort to have it restored for both the historical value, and for the citizens of Waterford.

The property the pond once covered still remains in the family's possession. Perry says that it would be donated to the town if the dam can be restored, so that the pond would be open to all. The playground which would border the shores of the pond, is already public property.

"There's a lot of history to that pond," Perry says.

Meanwhile, Happy recalls how, as a young girl, she would ice-skate on the pond each year on Thanksgiving Day while her grandmother prepared the annual feast. For the past year, the couple has been exploring the possibility of restoring the dam - and hitting a brick wall nearly every way they turn. Initially they were met with a verbal rejection from the town's then-code enforcement officer, and later by the Department of Environmental Protection [DEP]. Dawn Hallowell of the DEP's Division of Land Resource Regulation visited the site in July of this year. Recently, her findings reached the Chapmans.

"You do have the right to apply for a permit, but based on the site visit and my conversation with the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, it is unlikely that the department will issue an approval," Hallowell told them in a letter. "Anytime you apply to do something through the DEP, they say 'no' right off the bat," Perry says. "You have to fight tooth and nail to get it done."

That fight may no longer be the Chapmans alone to fight, thanks to the reaction they received recently from the town's board of selectmen. The Chapmans, with their grim response letter from the DEP in hand, appeared before the board members and asked for help. While the board stated that they supported the project in concept, they were first at odds to see what they could do to help. They decided to appoint a committee of volunteers who could look into the matter, and make recommendations on the best ways to move forward.

"Everyone thinks that this will cost a lot of money. It won't," Perry says. "There are people in this town that would do the work for free to restore that dam. Every town up here is like that, they have people that want to help the community. Restoring the dam is important. It's historical, and it's not going to hurt anybody."

Anyone interested in serving on a committee to restore the carding mill dam can contact the Waterford Town Office at 583-4403.

SOURCE: ADVERTISER-DEMOCRAT

DATE: 10-18-2007


Lakes: Bear Pond
Regions: Sebago


Print this story

Email this story

return to Lake News