Clay Pit Pond, also known as Claypit Pond, is a pond in the Boston suburb of Belmont in Middlesex County, Massachusetts situated between Concord Avenue and Belmont High School. It is a man-made pond, excavated as the source of clay for industrial brick-making on the site from 1888 to 1926. The pond was formed in 1933 when the Wellington Brook was redirected to flood the site, making it an essential part of the drainage system for much of Belmont. The Parry Brothers first opened a

brickyard A brickyard or brickfield is a place or yard where bricks are made, fired, and stored, or sometimes sold or otherwise distributed from. Brick makers work in a brick yard. A brick yard may be constructed near natural sources of clay or on o ...

in the vicinity of the current pond in 1888. In 1900, nearly all brick making operations in Middlesex County were merged into the New England Brick Company, which acquired the site and increased production to 15 million bricks per year with a work force of 75. By 1926, the highest quality clay was exhausted and the site was abandoned, reportedly leaving behind an 1884

Marion steam shovel Marion Power Shovel Company was an American firm that designed, manufactured and sold steam shovels, power shovels, blast hole drills, excavators, and dragline excavators for use in the construction and mining industries. The company was a maj ...

at the bottom of the pit. The pond is inhabited by

bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or "copper nose" as is common in Texas, is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and ...

common carp The Eurasian carp or European carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), widely known as the common carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Arkive The ...

, and

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but ...

, among other species. The Town of Belmont purchased the abandoned pit in 1927 for $22,500 to use as a waste dump site. However, in 1933, the Town diverted the Wellington Brook through a culvert to flood the site with 80 million gallons of water, creating the Clay Pit Pond. In March 2010, the pond overflowed onto the road after two days of rain, closing down the adjacent high school. In September 2020, several Belmont citizens illegally removed more than 80 trees and shrubs from the south side of Clay Pit Pond. The unauthorized

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

of this protected wetland area has raised environmental concerns.Judy Singler, Belmont Citizens Forum, 4 May 2021
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References

{{Massachusetts lakes and ponds Belmont, Massachusetts Lakes of Middlesex County, Massachusetts Ponds of Massachusetts