Dudley Pond Changing Views

Originally published as 'Dudley Pond Changing Views'

Introduction by Stan Wohlfarth This project began when I received an old print of our house at 62 Sycamore Rd, near Dudley Pond, off route 126 (Click Here) . Apparently the house was part of a family "compound" of sorts for the Butler family (George Butler loaned me this photo ). The woman pictured in the old photo, George's grandmother, distilled liquor there during prohibition days. At some point the house underwent significant renovations and the roof was reconstructed running in a different direction. We moved there in August of 1995 and quickly discovered the somewhat hidden beauty of Dudley Pond. It occurred to me that a lot of the lakeside cottages had probably been changed or renovated significantly over the years.	Fortunately, though the character and cohesiveness of the area still seemed intact. So, with Newton photographer Peter Vanderwarker as an influence (Boston Globe Sunday Magazine "Cityscapes" feature) I set out to duplicate a similar study of Dudley Pond. The real impetus for formalizing the project was a grant I received from the Wayland Cultural Council. I then contacted the Wayland Historical Society for help in locating old views of the area. They had some postcards, of which I used four in the final project. The project was on its way, but there was still a lot more legwork was required to track down people with old photos. Perseverance was the key, as I'd get a few names from one person, make... Click here to finish the introduction	Dudley Pond by Irene Praeger Dudley Pond , located at the southern end of Wayland, Massachusetts (otherwise known as Cochituate), is presently owned by the commonwealth of Massachusetts and is designated a Great Pond, since it covers more than ten acres. When a pond is designated a Great Pond, every resident in the state has the right of free access to it. The pond covers 84 acres and is of medium depth, with a maximum depth of over 30 feet. Its management and administration were transferred to the Town of Wayland by the Commonwealth on April 21, 1916. It appears from records of the Metropolitan District Commission that the Water Board transferred the pond to the Town in April 1916 but did not turn over parcels of land at the natural outlet on the north end of the pond and at the
discontinued conduit to Lake Cochituate until 1935. The outlet to Lake Cochituate was sealed off in this period and was no longer of concern. On October 24, 1935, a release was signed granting the Town the parcel at the locus of the pipe between Dudley Pond and Lake Cochituate, " to have and to hold forever." An indenture was signed November 7, 1935, by which a parcel at the present and natural outlet, together with the pond, were placed under the control of the town for a period on ninety-nine years, "for park and recreational purposes together with and subject to rights easements and privileges of record." It is thought that Dudley Pond resulted from a detached ice block during the last glaciation of New England during the Pleistocene Epoch, which upon melting, left behind a topographic depression. The pond is fed by rainfall and by an inlet on the southeastern shore. The inlet flows from an old filled in dump site that is now a marshy area. There are many theories that the pond is spring fed, but no evidence supports this hypothesis. A slow flowing aquifer beneath ground level could be feeding water to the pond, but this remains only a theory, with some biological evidence pointing toward the possibility. The outlet of the pond is located in the extreme northeast corner of the pond's shoreline. The run-off from this outlet forms Dudley brook, which follows a northeast to northerly direction and empties into the Sudbury River, thereby making Dudley Pond part of the Sudbury River watershed. Dudley Pond has quite an interesting history and is a good example of changing land use. In 1845, Long Pond situated in the towns of Framingham, Natick, and Wayland, twenty miles west from the City of Boston, was chosen as a standby water supply for Boston. This decision was made after Long Pond was renamed Lake Cochituate because there was some controversy over Long Pond's water purity and the Indian name "Cochituate" connote to Bostonians remoteness in the wilderness and pure, unpolluted water. Ground was formally broken August 1846 by John Quincy Adams and Josiah Quincy, and in 1848 the work was completed. In addition to the supply in the Lake, Dug Pond and Dudley Pond were connected to form important tributaries. The waterworks continued through a brick aqueduct, iron pipes, and a stone tunnel 14.5 miles to a reservoir in Brookline with a 119,583,960 gallon capacity. An 18 inch concrete pipe running under Mansion Road connected Dudley Pond to Lake Cochituate. Around 1926 this pipe was disconnected, because the pond became more polluted than the lake and was no longer a desirable source of drinking water. This was achieved by plugging the pipe running under Mansion Road with concrete. The year 1883 saw two large houses constructed in the Dudley Pond area. One belonged to James Madison Bent who built a summer home on a bluff adjoining the second house, owned by Michael Hodge Simpson. Mr. Bent moored his small steamer, the Hannah Dexter, by a wharf that led up one hundred steps to his cottage. The house, owned by Michael Simpson, the president of the nearby Roxbury Carpet Company and Saxonville Mills, in the Saxonville section of Framingham, was by far the most famous home in Wayland. The Simpson house was reputed to have cost more than $150,000 to construct. It was situated on the southwest corner of Dudley Pond (corner of Rte. 126 and West Plain Street) on 8.4 acres of land. Thirty men worked most of 1882 to build the house, large stable, and windmill to pump water. The house was the wonder of Wayland and nearby towns. Mr. Simpson imported marble and many exotic woods, such as alabaster and mahogany, for its interior. When he died in 1884, his widow remarried. In the first decade of the twentieth century she sold the house to a group who converted it into a resort called the Mansion Inn. The Inn evolved over the years into an elegant dining establishment with a nightclub and ballroom. Residents of Boston would often drive to Wayland to enjoy an elegant dinner there. It became a special place to many people.
		Dudley Memories by Roland Henderson During our summer school vacations Dudley Pond was a popular place with grown-ups, as well as children. Some Boston area families would come and stay for the summer, year after year. Sometime in the thirties, the Mansion Inn constructed an addition on the east side of the building to provide space for ballroom dancing and other functions. During the era of the big bands, swimmers could hear music wafting from the ballroom's open windows early in the evening. This prompted curious listeners to climb up the back steps and peek into the windows to see the origins of the music. The pleasure was short-lived, because someone always appeared to shoo us away.
Between 1900 and 1915 Dudley Pond became popular as a summer resort and fishing camp. A considerable group of sizable developments financed and managed by outside speculators started in 1913 and reached a peak by 1918. The chief developers were D. Arthur Brown and John F. Stackpole, outsiders who had offices on Tremont Street in Boston and land offices on Old Connecticut Path, opposite the Mansion Inn. They made sales of lots and cottages mostly to Boston area people and also advertised in newspapers of neighboring towns. The earliest such development was known as Wayland Manor, with 301 lots on the eastern shore of Dudley Pond. Some single lots in this development were as small as one twentieth of an acre. The acquisition of land for Brown and Stackpole around Dudley Pond was managed primarily by Henry C. Mulligan of Natick. The largest development organized by Brown, Stackpole and Mulligan was Woodland Park, registered in 1914. This area of 85 acres was to the north of Dudley Pond, encompassing a network of roads and paths (some just on paper) based on what is now Maiden Lane. The development had 969 lots, some as small as 1200 square feet, or one thirty-sixth of an acre. Woodland Park was followed by Shore Acres, Lakewood, Castle Gate North and Castle Gate South. The Castle Gate projects were developed by the Cochituate Real Estate Trust, Brown and Stackpole's development company. Some lots were even sold through lotteries at movie theaters in the Boston area, such as the Orpheum. People who purchased these small parcels of land or finished cottages in the woods or fields around Dudley Pond from 1913 to 1928 were interested primarily in habitats where they could live in the summer months. The clean water and exceptional bass fishing attracted an increasing number of visitors. Some local residents still recall Ted Williams frequenting the Dudley area. Vaughn Monroe, who was known for the popular tune Racing with the Moon, owned a cottage on Pine Street. The period of prohibition in the 1930s initiated a cycle of decline for what was once a quiet, rural, pristine summer resort area. Many gangsters used the cottages around Dudley Pond for illicit activities. For a period of time their activities occupied the elegant premises at the Mansion Inn. It was on one such occasion that gun fire erupted into a full fledged riot. This caused great consternation with local residents, prompting them to forbid their children to go into the area. Many cottage owners did not foresee that the depression in 1929 would cause them to look at their summer cottages as year round residences, most of which were designed only for warm weather living. Many were not heated, nor were the roads suited to be driven on in icy, snowy, or muddy conditions. There were no formalized health regulations. Septic systems typically consisted of dry wells made by burying 55 gallon drums in the yard. These crude systems often overflowed. Some owners simply built out- houses and allowed sinks to drain into dry wells outside. Many of the people living in these cottages year round were destitute and needed welfare aid from the town. Natick and surrounding communities, such as Framingham and Waltham, took advantage of Wayland's welfare funds by sending agents to seek out cottages for impoverished families to rent. The burden became so great that Wayland's Welfare Agency passed a rule to limit subsidies to $15 per month for one of these cottages. By 1930, concerned residents who were trying to make Wayland a well-managed and livable town felt that a zoning ordinance must be adopted to halt the growth of thickly settled, poorly planned developments. Minimum lot sizes were established in 1934. Lot requirements were established at 10,000 square feet with an 80 foot frontage. Unfortunately this effort was too late to save much of the area around Dudley Pond. A condemnation committee was organized in 1950, which helped decrease some of the density of houses around Dudley Pond. The Committee consisted of a body of town officials composed of one member each from the Board of Selectmen, Board of Health, Board of Public Welfare, Finance Committee, the fire chief and building inspector, and a Town Council member, as well. The committee's task was to remedy hazardous or unhealthy conditions throughout the town by bringing such conditions to the attention of the property owner and requiring the problem to be corrected within a stated time. Owners often lived in other towns and would opt to sell their property to the town rather than improve substandard housing. Tax-delinquent properties were taken by tax title, while abandoned locations were taken by eminent domain. In cases where dwellings or other structures had to be demolished, the work was carried out by members of the fire department under the supervision of the fire chief. This saved the town considerable expense in hiring a professional demolition company and afforded the firemen an excellent training opportunity. Department of Environmental Quality engineering standards later halted most of the training sessions in the 1970s due to changing safety regulations. In most cases, the town attempted to sell a piece of property to an abutter, so he could improve his home, including septic system. The mid-1950's saw the tragic destruction of the Mansion Inn. It burned to the ground on March 24, 1956, from a fire that started in the basement, allegedly due to a malfunctioning heating system. The fire traveled rapidly throughout the structure, hidden in the wall partitions and burned for eight hours. A heavy snowstorm the night before hindered the fire-fighting effort. The fire was so extensive that the Wayland Fire Department, a part-time and volunteer organization, had to secure help from neighboring communities. Water had to be pumped from the pond, because no hydrants were available. A resident watched in horror from his house as he saw the place, where his daughter was to have her wedding reception, go up in flames. All that remained were charred ruins. In 1958, excavation began in the Mansion Inn property to make way for a development of 14 houses. An unexpected discovery was made at this time. The excavation had unearthed a 5,000-year old cremation site that had belonged to a group of people referred to as the Red Paint People (they painted their skin with ocher). A Massachusetts archaeological group found many artifacts, including skeletal remains of these people. Their efforts were hampered as a result of the excavation activity which destroyed one of the largest and best sites ever found in New England. The most extensive display of these artifacts can be seen at the Archaeological Society Museum, in Attleboro, Mass. One of the most emotional issues surrounding the Dudley Pond area arose around 1958, when the Planning Board attempted to address community improvement of congested residential areas in Wayland and discussed the possibility of obtaining federal financing for such a project. It was determined that Wayland did qualify for federal financial assistance, and planning studies were to be continued. Problems began in the summer of 1960, when the town decided to apply to the Urban Renewal Authority for assistance. This was done by the selectmen and an acquisition of $410,000 was later granted for study and preliminary work. A five member Citizen's Advisory Committee was appointed by the select-men. The fIrst formal hearing was held in the Town Building with 300 angry Dudley Pond residents in attendance. Over 50% of the dwellings had been declared unfit for human habitation. The meeting ran for two consecutive evenings with some very emotional out- bursts from people who took offense at having their homes referred to as slums. To secure federal funding, in the ensuing 3 years, the Urban Renewal Authority inspected all existing sites at Dudley and the access roads. The Authority recommended that 265 homes would have to be removed to allow for the consolidation of lots and the widening and paving of roads. All these homes were around the perimeter of Dudley Pond. The idea was to combine all of the land and give it to a developer who would build houses on regulation sized lots. No provision was made to find new homes for the people living in the 265 houses, and, in essence, they would be dispossessed. Dudley Pond residents felt that they could improve their own properties and in fact did. The selectmen had to reconsider their decision, since more than half the town had signed a petition indicating that Urban Renewal Activity was not wanted in the Town of Wayland. The matter finally came to an end when the Citizen's Advisory Committee issued its report to the town in 1963, stating that their committee, together with the Wayland Redevelopment Authority, wished to dissolve itself in a proper legal manner for the purpose of abandoning urban renewal activity within the boundaries of the Town of Wayland and advised that their desire be executed. Consequently, the state's $410,000 granted to the town was returned. Thus far, this report has been devoted to land use around Dudley Pond without specifically addressing the body of water. Certainly, all the land use change had an impact on the water, which was the original reason that the area became so popular and desirable. The early Twentieth century brought an end to the Pond's use as a public water supply, and it was opened up to the public for recreational use. The clear, clean water was one of Dudley Pond's prominent features. The exceptional bass fishing attracted an increasing number of visitors. Dudley Pond remained fairly clean and biologically balanced up to 1950. It was during the late 1950s and early 60s that indications of a speeded up eutrophication process began. The pond's water began to get choked with weeds and pond lilies. Freshwater jelly fish began to disappear, along with large bass and pickerel. Motorboats were prevalent and many boaters took sport in running over the numerous muskrats that dwelt in the pond. Soon the population of the largest herbivore (muskrat) diminished, and pond lily growth began to be uninhibited. It was at this time that the Dudley Pond Improvement Association was formed by a group of neighbors living at the pond. Active or supporting membership in the association included support in the common effort to uphold and preserve the present and future well-being of the pond, as well as maintaining order and tranquility. Formation of the association came about after many years of complaints to the selectmen and police about boating activity on the pond. One of the association's first endeavors was to place buoys and flagged markers around the entire pond. Later, they drew up a set of rules and regulations governing use of the water. The association has over the years maintained an ongoing program of litter control, weed control, safety, nuisance control, property protection, and improvement of water quality. It is well known for its annual pond cleanup and sponsorship of recreational activities.
Dudley Memories Excerpts from Wayland-Weston Town Crier, March 8, 1984 Dorothy Walsh, a Cochituate resident for 67 years, contributed many stories of Dudley Pond's history. She recalled that as a child during the Depression, she was not allowed to go all the way around the pond because of an alleged criminal element operating in the area. "There were a lot of gangsters who used cottages around the pond, but there was also a lot of bootlegging," she said. Another long-time Wayland resident, John Bryant, recalled a summer residence built by the Simpson family on the corner of West Plain Street and Emerson Road that had some interesting features. There was an underground passage that ran 150 feet from the main house to the barn which was rumored to have been used as an Underground Railroad stopover for escaping slaves before the Civil War. The house also had a secret staircase behind a bookcase. "To me, that was a mystique," he said. Two of the four stone pillars that marked the entrance to the Simpson estate still stand at Castle Gate and West Plain Road. The letters H and Y are worked into the stones, which many speculate stood for Harvard and Yale, where members of the Simpson family attended college.	Dick (rear) and Paul (front) Kohler with their father's original store on the left. (courtesy Paul Kohler, c.1935) Paul Kohler (rear) and his son, Kevin (front), in the same spot as above, on West Plain Street. (photo by Stan Wohlfarth, 1996)
During the 1970s the speed limit on the pond for boats was lifted to allow water skiing. The pond became over fished, over boated by skiers, over nourished with nitrates and phosphates, and was in a severe state of eutrophication. It was suffering from "recreational fatigue." The pond became biologically imbalanced, with some species becoming extinct while other nuisance organisms and species thrived. In the spring months, Dudley was choked with filamentous green algae, and in the latter weeks summer, the pond's color turned pea green from blue-green algae blooms. Beginning in 1968, the pond s sporadically treated with chemicals, but by 1979, the problem demanded further action. The Wayland Surface Water Committee was chartered by Town Meeting in 1980. Its purpose was to study and evaluate the various bodies of water within the town, provide recommendations, and implement programs for their maintenance, restoration and improvement. The committee was formed in response to the recommendations put forth by the Dudley Pond Association's Clean water Committee, which was concerned that the pond was experiencing accelerated or cultural eutrophication. There have been no quick and easy solutions to the problems that have plagued Dudley Pond. The town can certainly take pride in the fact that Dudley Pond was one of the first sites in the state to study, engineer, and actually carry out construction necessary to save the life of a body of water. The problems at Dudley Pond did not evolve overnight, and the solutions have similarly come in an evolutionary fashion. The Town of Wayland has progressively recovered from the damaging effects of intensive development through consolidation of land parcels and the upgrading of the septic systems.
Dudley Memories by Roland Henderson Somewhere near the end of Mathews Drive, as it approaches Dudley Pond, was a section where many people swam. It was rather muddy, with lots of weeds, but in the heat of summer it was a fun place to be. Also, in the area, row boats were rented. On the other end of Dudley Pond, just below where the Mansion Inn was located, a small wooden building jutted out into the water where canoes were kept when not in service. the roof of this enclosure was used as a diving board by many of the swimmers. At one time a concrete-block type of structure (it's purpose is unknown to me) rose up a little above the water and provided another place to swim to and jump or dive from. At some time, it was removed, and an anchored raft was installed in the same area. This, too, was used by the swimmers to show off their diving skills.	(Above) Swimming at the Mansion Inn beach was a popular activity in the 1930's. (courtesy of Roland Henderson) (Below) The Dudley Pond winter carnival is an annual event (depending on ice conditions) held on Super Bowl Sunday and sponsored by the Dudley Pond Association. (photo by Stan Wohlfarth, 1996)
Introduction (continued from top) several calls, get some more names, and maybe find someone who actually had some old photos... somewhere. Just getting those old photos took over a year. Photographing the new views was relatively straightforward, and whenever possible, I would try to get people in poses similar to the old photos.
Rocky Point at the end of Doran Street. (courtesy of Wayland Historical Society)		Midway through the process I was given the name of Irene Praeger and was able to utilize a paper she had written for a conservation class as the main body of text to accompany the photographs. Acquiring this paper, and my initial meeting with Roland Henderson, who grew up near Dudley pond (Cochituate), were two significant turning points in the process. Irene's paper saved me the work of doing a historical account of events and Roland's collection of photos and his personal experiences really added depth to the documentary. The final result you now have came about through the assistance of many people, mentioned below. Hopefully this project will give some
insight into what this area was, and how it is still unique enough to work hard at preserving its beauty, And for the people who have lived here awhile and know what we've got, it will be a tribute to the hard work that has already been put into preservation. This has been designed as a one time newsletter, however there is no need to put a finite end to the project. Perhaps in a few years I will have a new collection of old views to do another installment (submissions are still welcome). Or maybe I'll still be living here in 50 years and revisit the same scenes again. It has been enjoyable to this point and I hope everyone can benefit from this documentary study.	Rocky Point at the end of Doran Street. (photo by Stan Wohlfarth 1995)
This article has been converted and posted to the web by: Ferenc@Smore.Net The original credits and thanks are to the right.>>>>>>>>> I have tried as much as possible to maintain the original feel of the article but I've made some slight changes in order to make it more web compatible. Unfortunately some of the photos scanned from the newsletter were of too low a quality to be used. I will be taking the liberty of adding some color photos by me and my camera this autumn. I would appreciate any old photos in order to add to the Dudley then and now collection. I apologize for any typos. Special Thanks to my Grandfather and Grandmother who purchased a small summer cabin on Dudley Pond when I was a toddler in the 60's. I learned to swim and have since failed to drown repeatedly in Dudley Pond. Ferenc P Vasady-Kovacs	This project is supported in part by a grant from (Wayland Cultural Council), a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Special Thanks to: C.W. Beane Printing Dudley Pond Association Dudley Pond Chateau Robert Bentley, Inc. Ursula M. Stephan Realtors (The Prudential Wayland office) Wayland Historical Society Wayland Public Library Wayland Weston Town Crier	Jim Boggs George Butler Bud Carrier John Darack Bob Donalds and family Campagna Fillosa Roland Henderson Paul and Kevin Kohler Arlene and Elliot Pollack Irene Praeger Richard Spinelli Jim and Luana Steele Jack Wilson Mary-Ann Wohlfarth
Originally Produced and Published by Stan Wohlfarth of Wayland, Ma Return to Top