Goose Pond (New Hampshire) - Misplaced Pages

Lake in New Hampshire, United States For other uses, see Goose Pond (disambiguation).

Goose Pond

Goose PondShow map of New HampshireGoose PondShow map of the United States
Location	Grafton County, New Hampshire
Coordinates	43°42′9″N 72°5′38″W / 43.70250°N 72.09389°W / 43.70250; -72.09389
Primary inflows	Pressey Brook Marshall Brook
Primary outflows	Goose Pond Brook
Basin countries	United States

Max. length	2.9 mi (4.7 km)
Max. width	0.6 mi (0.97 km)
Surface area	625 acres (2.5 km)
Average depth	10 ft (3.0 m)
Max. depth	35 ft (11 m)
Surface elevation	823 ft (251 m)

Settlements	Canaan; Hanover

Goose Pond is a 625-acre (2.5 km) water body located in Grafton County in western New Hampshire, United States, in the towns of Canaan and Hanover. It is considered a great pond by the state of New Hampshire. The lake has 6.3 miles (10.1 km) of shoreline, and is approximately 3 miles (5 km) long by 0.5 miles (0.8 km) wide. All but the northernmost end of the pond is in the town of Canaan. The average depth of the pond is approximately 10 feet (3.0 m), with the deepest part approximately 35 feet (11 m). The lake is part of the Mascoma River watershed, flowing to the Connecticut River.

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 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 Mascoma River 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.

The lake is classified as a warm water fishery, with observed species including smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, chain pickerel, horned pout, and white perch. 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

New Hampshire GRANIT state geographic information system Archived 2013-08-03 at the Wayback Machine
William & James Wallace, The History of Canaan, NH (1910)
"Goose Pond, Canaan, Hanover" (PDF). NH Fish & Game. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
Department, NH Fish and Game. "State Record Fish | Fishing | New Hampshire Fish and Game Department". wildlife.state.nh.us. Retrieved 2018-09-27.

Connecticut River watershed

Tributaries

Connecticut	Blackledge River Coginchaug River Connecticut River Duck River Eightmile River Falls River Farmington River Hockanum River Hubbard River Jeremy River Lieutenant River Mattabesset River Nepaug River Pameacha Creek Park River Pequabuck River Salmon River Scantic River
Massachusetts	Burnshirt River Chapel Brook Chicopee River Connecticut River Cranberry River Deerfield River East Brookfield River Farmington River Fall River Five Mile River Green River Hubbard River Manhan River Mill River (Northampton) Mill River (Springfield) Millers River Mirey Brook North Branch Millers River North Branch Westfield River North River Otter River Quaboag River Scantic River Seven Mile River Tarbell Brook Ware River Westfield River
New Hampshire	Ammonoosuc River Ashuelot River Blow-me-down Brook The Branch Cold River Connecticut River East Branch Mohawk River Gale River Great Brook Halls Stream Ham Branch Indian River Indian Stream Israel River Johns River Knox River Little River Little Sugar River Mascoma River Millers River Mink Brook Mirey Brook Mohawk River Nash Stream North Branch Gale River North Branch Millers River North Branch Sugar River North Branch Upper Ammonoosuc River Oliverian Brook Otter Brook Partridge Brook Perry Stream Phillips Brook Simms Stream South Branch Ashuelot River South Branch Gale River South Branch Israel River South Branch Sugar River Stocker Brook Sugar River Tarbell Brook Upper Ammonoosuc River West Branch Mohawk River West Branch Upper Ammonoosuc River Wild Ammonoosuc River Zealand River
Vermont	Black River Connecticut River Deerfield River Fall River Green River Halls Stream Leach Creek Moose River Nulhegan River Ompompanoosuc River Ottauquechee River Passumpsic River Rock River Saxtons River Utley Brook Waits River Wells River West River Whetstone Brook White River Williams River Winhall River

Lakes

Connecticut	Barkhamsted Reservoir Lake Beseck Lake Hayward Lake Pocotopaug
Massachusetts	Brooks Pond Browning Pond Lake Monomonac Quabbin Reservoir Lake Wyola
New Hampshire	Ashuelot Pond Back Lake Canaan Street Lake Cedar Pond Christine Lake Comerford Reservoir Connecticut Lakes Crystal Lake Dublin Pond Eastman Pond Echo Lake Lake Francis (Murphy Dam) Goose Pond Grafton Pond Granite Lake Lakes of the Clouds Little Sunapee Lake Mascoma Lake McIndoes Reservoir Lake Monomonac Moore Reservoir Pearly Lake Silver Lake Spofford Lake Lake Sunapee Surry Mountain Lake Lake Tarleton
Vermont	Ball Mountain Lake Comerford Reservoir Harriman Reservoir Harvey's Lake McIndoes Reservoir Moore Reservoir North Hartland Lake Lake Rescue Townshend Lake

Towns

Connecticut	Chester Cromwell Deep River East Haddam East Hampton East Hartford East Windsor Enfield Essex Glastonbury Haddam Hartford Higganum Lyme Middletown Moodus Old Lyme Old Saybrook Portland Rocky Hill South Windsor Suffield Thompsonville Wethersfield Windsor Windsor Locks
Massachusetts	Agawam Chicopee Deerfield Easthampton Gill Greenfield Hadley Hatfield Holyoke Longmeadow Millers Falls Montague Northampton Northfield South Hadley Springfield Sunderland Turners Falls West Springfield Whately
New Hampshire	Bath Charlestown Chesterfield Claremont Clarksville Colebrook Columbia Cornish Dalton Groveton Hanover Haverhill Hinsdale Lancaster Lebanon Littleton Lyme Monroe Northumberland Orford Piermont Pittsburg Plainfield Stewartstown Stratford Walpole West Lebanon Westmoreland Woodsville
Quebec	East Hereford
Vermont	Ascutney Barnet Beecher Falls Bellows Falls Bloomfield Bradford Brattleboro Brunswick Canaan Concord Dummerston Fairlee Gilman Guildhall Hartford Hartland Lemington Lunenburg Maidstone Newbury Norwich Putney Rockingham Ryegate Springfield Thetford Vernon Waterford Weathersfield Wells River Westminster White River Junction Wilder Windsor

Crossings

Category:

Lakes of Grafton County, New Hampshire

See also

References