Aunt Polly’s Wash Tub is a lake in
Oconomowoc, Wisconsin
Oconomowoc ( ) is a city in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The name was derived from Coo-no-mo-wauk, the Potawatomi language, Potawatomi term for 'waterfall'. The population was 18,203 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. T ...
. It is the only lake in the area that has
soft water
Hard water is water that has a high mineral content (in contrast with "soft water"). Hard water is formed when water percolates through deposits of limestone, chalk or gypsum, which are largely made up of calcium and magnesium carbonates, ...
.
It was previously called Soft Water Lake
until it was named for
Polly Gage (1805–1882)
who lived on the lake and took advantage of the water’s
softness
In materials science, hardness (antonym: softness) is a measure of the resistance to plastic deformation, such as an indentation (over an area) or a scratch (linear), induced mechanically either by Pressing (metalworking), pressing or abrasion ...
for the laundry of the
Nashotah Mission.
Gage lived there until 1880 when the property was foreclosed.
The family of
Laura Tallmadge (1842–1879) also lived on the lake.
The area once was called “Pabst Swamp Preserve”.
After the Gages left, the son of
Frederick Pabst, , purchased the land around the lake for
Pabst Farms, and farm employees would
ice skate
Ice skates are metal blades attached underfoot and used to propel the bearer across a sheet of ice while ice skating.
The first ice skates were made from leg bones of horse, ox or deer, and were attached to feet with leather straps. These skates ...
on the lake in winter.
The lake is now in , which was named for former
city attorney Bill Chapman.
The lake was once stocked with
German carp and
bullfrog
''Bullfrog'' is a common English language term to refer to large, aggressive frogs, regardless of species.
Examples of bullfrogs include:
Frog species Americas
*Helmeted water toad (''Calyptocephalella gayi''), endemic to Chile
*American bullf ...
s.
Fred Pabst, Jr. later stocked it with
goldfish
The goldfish (''Carassius auratus'') is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of the order Cypriniformes. It is commonly kept as a pet in indoor aquariums, and is one of the most popular aquarium fish. Goldfish released into the w ...
.
References
{{Reflist
Lakes of Waukesha County, Wisconsin