Goose Pond is a water body located in Grafton County in western

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, United States, in the towns of

Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...

and

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

. It is considered a great pond by the state of New Hampshire. The lake has of shoreline, and is approximately long by wide. All but the northernmost end of the pond is in the town of Canaan. The average depth of the pond is approximately , with the deepest part approximately . The lake is part of the

Mascoma River The Mascoma River is a river in western New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Connecticut River, which flows to Long Island Sound. The Mascoma comprises two sections which are split by Mascoma Lake in the communities of Enfi ...

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

, flowing to the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...

. There is evidence of Goose Pond in the late 1700s. According to legend, George Harris and his party in 1767 came upon a sheet of water near Hanover, whose surface seemed to be alive with wild geese and ducks. They killed a goose - an old one - and cooked it all day, and then it was tough. It never got to be a tender goose, and to commemorate this circumstance they named that water "Goose Pond". A small wooden dam was built in 1899 which probably increased the size of the pond. The present dam was built in 1917-18 and was repaired in 1952 and 1990. It has served as an energy reserve for the

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

mills, and for hydroelectric plants. New Hampshire Water Resources currently holds the rights, and still sells waterpower once a year in a draw-down, generating funds to maintain the dam. The pond continues to serve as an important recreational, scenic, and ecological resource in the

watershed. There are two islands on the pond, known as "The Big Island" and "The Little Island", and there is one public boat launch area, known as "The Acre", owned by the state. At the Acre there is a small public beach, and another near the dam at the southern tip of the pond. There is no overnight camping and fires are not allowed at the Acre, the dam area, or on the Little or the Big Island. Fires are allowed on private property with a free permit from the fire warden. There are 160 cottages or homes directly on or across the road from the pond, with over 30 that are used by year-round residents. The shoreline is primarily owned by the state, with a few privately owned shores. A variety of wildlife are seen (and heard) near the pond throughout the year, including moose, bear, deer, wild turkeys, fox, and coyote. Otters, beavers and minks are often seen near the shoreline, and turtles can often be spotted in the pond. The bird population is diverse, including osprey, eagles, great blue herons, plovers, kingfishers, Canada geese, a variety of ducks, and loons. Goose Pond

The lake is classified as a warm water fishery, with observed species including smallmouth bass,

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 ...

chain pickerel The chain pickerel (''Esox niger'') is a species of freshwater fish in the pike family (family Esocidae) of order Esociformes. The chain pickerel and the American pickerel (''E. americanus'') belong to the ''Esox'' genus of pike. Taxonomy French ...

horned pout The brown bullhead (''Ameiurus nebulosus'') is a fish of the family Ictaluridae that is widely distributed in North America. It is a species of bullhead catfish and is similar to the black bullhead (''Ameiurus melas'') and yellow bullhead (''Am ...

, and

white perch The white perch (''Morone americana'') is not a true perch but is a fish of the temperate bass family, Moronidae, notable as a food and game fish in eastern North America. In some places it is referred to as "Silver Bass". The name "White perc ...

. The state record smallmouth bass (7 lbs. 14.5 oz.) for New Hampshire was caught in this lake in August 1970 by Francis H. Loud.

References

{{Connecticut River Lakes of Grafton County, New Hampshire

See also

References