Bullough’s Pond
Overview
Walk around the lake, or sit on a bench and watch the ducks. A dredging completed in 1992 was intended to slow down the eutrophication process that’s common in shallow, man-made ponds, especially those in highly developed areas.
Size: 9 acres    Longest Walk: 0.6 miles   Â
Maps
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GPS Enabled Trail Map
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Owner & Administrator Websites
Photo Gallery
First three photos shown here. Click a photo to view the complete slideshow or click here to browse the complete gallery.
History
1664
John Spring built a dam for a grist mill on Smelt Brook (now Laundry Brook), creating the mill pond.
1880s
Pond was briefly renamed Silver Lake and used for harvesting ice, stored in an ice house on the riverbank and delivered to Newton homes in summer. The pond was later named after another owner, John Bullough.
1897
Pond landscaped for residential development, including construction of roads along the north and east shores. Dam was replaced with concrete. The owners donated the pond to the City of Newton.
1920s
Dredging of the pond led to the formation of thicker ice in the winter, making the pond popular for ice skating. A warming hut was built on the eastern shore.
1983
Bullough’s Pond Association created to serve as caretaker of the pond.
1990s
Climate change made the pond unsafe for ice skating, despite more dredging in 1992.
2002
Publication of Reflections in Bullough’s Pond by Diana Muir, a commentary on how the pond, like much of New England, has been fashioned by humans. The Boston Globe called it “an extraordinary book, a combination of polemic and all-encompassing scholarship.”
2017
The warming shed formerly used by ice skaters was demolished. Historic marker installed at the former site of the shed.
Features
Birding, Boat Launch, Historic Site, Pond, Scenic View
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Additional Information
Newton Assessor’s Map ID: 24037 0010
Advocates & Caretakers:
Other Information:
A Deep History: Bullough’s Pond, by Allison Carter (Newton Patch)
Fair to mark 350 years at Bullough’s Pond (Newton Tab)
King’s Handbook of Newton (1889)
“On a dreamy day of Indian summer, one can hardly choose a lovelier rambling-ground than these voiceless solitudes about Bullough’s Pond, amid the scarlet glories of the barberries and sumachs, the vivid gold of the witch hazel, the pyrola’s pale green, the wild cherry’s orange and crimson, the oak’s sprays of fiery glow, the deep green of the bittersweet, the sombre shadows of the evergreens.”
1990 study of restoring the pond
A scene in the 2008 movie The Women was filmed at Bullough’s Pond.
Bulloughs Pond Artwork
Wikipedia
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