Lake Massapoag is a , natural,

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season) Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...

fed

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

located in

Sharon, Massachusetts Sharon is a New England town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,575 at the 2020 census. Sharon is part of Greater Boston, about southwest of downtown Boston, and is connected to both Boston and Providence by ...

. The name ''Massapoag'' is Algonquin, meaning "large water". Lake Massapoag is the headwaters of the Massapoag Brook, which flows into the

Neponset River The Neponset River is a river in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its headwaters are at the Neponset Reservoir in Foxborough, near Gillette Stadium. From there, the Neponset meanders generally northeast for about to its mouth at ...

History

In the 18th century, workers deepened the outlet of the lake to draw the water down in order to extract

bog iron Bog iron is a form of impure iron deposit that develops in bogs or swamps by the chemical or biochemical oxidation Redox (reduction–oxidation, , ) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate change. O ...

for the smelting industry. Lake Massapoag was the site of a large 19th-century ice business, with an enormous wooden icehouse at the eastern end of the lake. Because of the lake and the fact that Sharon is at a slightly higher elevation than the surrounding towns, and because it is located on the main rail line going south from Boston, the shores of the lake developed into a minor summer resort with several large

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

summer camp A summer camp or sleepaway camp is a supervised program for children conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as ''campers''. Summer school is usually a part of the academ ...

s and cottage colonies. Temple Adath Sharon was built as a summer synagogue, and the houses around it, now occupied year-round, were once summer cottages.

Recreation

The site of the former ice house is now a large town beach. The beach was created by trucking in quantities of sand after the ice house burned down. The lake is also popular for sailing and sailboarding. The Wheaton College Sailing Team, Sharon High School Sailing Team, and Dover Sherborn High School Sailing Team train on Lake Massapoag.

References

External links

MassWildlife map and information
{{authority control Sharon, Massachusetts Massapoag Massapoag