Wangumbaug Lake, also known as Coventry Lake, is a natural

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

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. It covers 378 acres (1.5 km²) and is about 35 feet (10.7 m) deep and 1.8 miles (2.9 km) long with a circumference of 5 miles (8 km). Its watershed is 1,992 acres (8.06km²), around 40% of which is residential and the rest farms and forest. The lake holds 2.7 billion gallons (10,220,000 m³) of water. It is fed by springs and has one natural outlet, Coventry Lake Brook, which flows southeast into the

Willimantic River The Willimantic River is a tributary of the Shetucket River, approximately 25 mi (40 km) long in northeastern Connecticut in the New England region of the United States. It is formed in northern Tolland County, near Stafford Springs b ...

. Melt from a retreating glacier formed the lake 13,000 years ago. Wangumbaug means "Crooked Pond" in Algonquian. It was likely named by the

Nipmuc The Nipmuc or Nipmuck people are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who historically spoke an Eastern Algonquian language. Their historic territory Nippenet, "the freshwater pond place," is in central Massachusetts and nearby part ...

, who settled the area before European contact. The lake has been a popular summer vacation destination for boaters and bathers. Artists flocked to the summer cottages along the shores. In the early twentieth century, a trolley line connected the towns of Coventry and Willimantic, and Wangumbaug Lake became known as "Willimantic's summer resort." A pavilion known as the Lakeside Casino was a popular dance hall. Wangumbaug Lake is currently the home of the

UConn Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, located in Storrs. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big East Conference. The university's fo ...

rowing team, which shares its boathouse with the Edwin O. Smith High School crew team from nearby

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market tow ...

. A two-acre

lake island A lake island is any landmass within a lake. It is a type of inland island. Lake islands may form a lake archipelago. Formation Lake islands may form in numerous ways. They may occur through a build-up of sedimentation as shoals, and become ...

, Underwood Island, is located 100 yards from Wangumbaug's shoreline. The village and census-designated place of Coventry Lake includes the lake and surrounding residential areas. The regional climate is

hemiboreal Hemiboreal means halfway between the temperate and subarctic (or boreal) zones. The term is most frequently used in the context of climates and ecosystems. Botany A hemiboreal forest has some characteristics of a boreal forest to the north, and ...

References

External links

Lake Wangumbaug: A Coventry Crown Jewel
{{authority control Coventry, Connecticut Lakes of Connecticut Lakes of Tolland County, Connecticut Connecticut placenames of Native American origin Geography of Tolland County, Connecticut Tourist attractions in Tolland County, Connecticut