| Lake Cochituate | |
|---|---|
 South Pond | |
  Lake Cochituate  Lake Cochituate | |
| Location | Middlesex County, Massachusetts |
| Coordinates | 42°19′08″N71°22′41″W / 42.3189879°N 71.3781509°W /42.3189879; -71.3781509[1] |
| Type | Reservoir |
| Catchment area | 17 sq mi (44 km2) |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 3.76 mi (6.05 km) |
| Surface area | 625 acres (2.53 km2) |
| Surface elevation | 154 ft (47 m) |
| Settlements | Natick,Wayland,Framingham |
Lake Cochituate is a body of water inNatick,Wayland, andFramingham,Massachusetts, United States. Originally a reservoir servingBoston, it no longer serves that function, and is now a local recreational resource and home toCochituate State Park.
Lake Cochituate consists of three linked ponds known as North Pond, Middle Pond, and South Pond. A largepeninsula in South Pond is the site of theUS Army Soldier Systems Center (SSC), and the eastern shore holds the trails of Pegan Cove Park. Middle Pond is home to Cochituate State Park, which includesboat ramps and a picnic area. North Pond is the site of both Wayland Town Beach and Saxonville Beach of Framingham.
On the edge of Middle Pond is the new MathWorks Lakeside campus.[2] This building was originally aCarling brewery, built in 1957. The former Saxonville Industrial Track runs alongside sections of the lake, which brought supplies to both the Carling Brewery, the ITT Continental Bakery, and a Green Stamps warehouse located on the edge of the lake in an area formerly called an industrial park. TheCochituate Rail Trail runs along the lake on the former track's right-of-way, from downtown Natick toSaxonville, a section of Framingham.
The three ponds and their connector ponds cover a total of 625 acres (2.53 km2). South of Cochituate, the 40-acre (160,000 m2)Dug Pond is the site ofNatick High School. The Lake Cochituate watershed, part of theSudbury River watershed, encompasses 17 square miles (44 km2) in Natick, Wayland, Framingham,Ashland, andSherborn. This in turn is part of theConcord River andMerrimack River watersheds.Cochituate is also the name of a village in Wayland.
In 2005, a severe thunderstorm occurred that produced a violentmicroburst that knocked down dozens of trees and injured some visitors, according to the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. Two teens, Ahmie Harman and Valeria Barbier, had a tree fall on them, while another teen, Oliver Barbier, was caught in the lightning storm. Though sustaining injuries, all soon recovered. A memorial plaque, in witness of the event, has been placed there to remember them and others who survived the storm.[3]
Lake Cochituate was created by the construction ofLake Cochituate Dam to provide a reservoir forwater supply to the city ofBoston, via the 14-mile (23 km)Cochituate Aqueduct. Lake Cochituate was the first major water supply system built for the city, and replaced the previous usage ofJamaica Pond. Developed from 1848 to 1863,[4] it supplied Boston's water until 1951, by which time it had been supplanted by the largerWachusett andQuabbin Reservoir supplies. The surveys and plans for the project were performed by civil engineerJames Fowle Baldwin (1782–1862), the son ofLoammi Baldwin who designed theMiddlesex Canal, and younger brother ofLoammi Baldwin Jr. (1780–1838) who authored the earlier studies for a Boston water supply. Its 1890 dam, replacing two older dams on the lake's northwestern outlet, is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places. The former gatehouse for the Cochituate Aqueduct is located on the east side of the lake.
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