Walden Pond

Walden Pond
Location	Concord, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°26′18″N 71°20′31″W / 42.4384°N 71.3420°W / 42.4384; -71.3420Coordinates: 42°26′18″N 71°20′31″W / 42.4384°N 71.3420°W / 42.4384; -71.3420
Lake type	kettlehole
Basin  countries	United States
Surface area	61 acres (25 ha)
Max. depth	102 ft (31 m) or 107 ft (33 m)
Shore  length1	1.7 mi (2.7 km)
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Walden Pond is a 102-foot (31 m) deep pond.^[1] It is 61 acres (250,000 m²) in area and 1.7 miles (2.7 km) around, located in Concord, Massachusetts, in the United States. A famous example of a kettle hole, it was formed by retreating glaciers 10,000–12,000 years ago.

The writer, transcendentalist, and philosopher Henry David Thoreau lived on the shores of the pond for two years starting in the summer of 1845. His account of the experience was recorded in Walden; or, Life in the Woods, and made the spot famous. Concord Museum contains the bed, chair, and desk from Thoreau's cabin.

Boston's "Ice King", Frederic Tudor, harvested ice yearly on Walden Pond for export to the Caribbean, Europe, and India. In his journal, Thoreau philosophized upon the wintry sight of Tudor's ice harvesters: "The sweltering inhabitants of Charleston and New Orleans, of Madras and Bombay and Calcutta, drink at my well ... The pure Walden water is mingled with the sacred water of the Ganges."

Now managed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Walden Pond State Reservation is a popular swimming destination in the summer. In the spring and fall, many people hike the trails that ring the pond and visit the site of Thoreau's one-room cabin. In the summer, especially on hot sunny weekends, admission to the park is often shut down for hours at a time to prevent the habitat from being overstressed. Tourists to the Concord area should plan their visits accordingly, scheduling stops at Walden either for early in the morning or for late in the evening.

In 1961, the Middlesex County Commissioners, then managing the land, proposed leveling a significant portion of the preserve for a parking lot and other "improvements." They had already leveled an acre of woodland for access to the public beach. The Commissioners were sued to stop the destruction of the existing environment. Judge David A. Rose, sitting in the Massachusetts Superior Court, ruled that Walden’s deed donating the property to the Commonwealth required preservation of the land and barred further development.^[2] This decision achieved national recognition and Judge Rose received hundreds of letters from school children across the country thanking him for saving the land.

In 1990, Eagles member and solo artist Don Henley initiated The Walden Woods Project to prevent the area around Walden Pond from being developed.

At one point there was an amusement park built on the far end of the pond but it burnt down and was never rebuilt.^[3]

Gallery

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Walden Pond

Walden Pond in spring, 2008

Site of Thoreau's cabin, 2004

Walden Pond in winter, 2005

Influences

Walden Pond inspired the naming of the American film company Walden Media.

Footnotes

External links

Walden Pond in summer, 2005

• The Walden Woods Project
• Walden: A Year
• More photos of Walden Pond
• MA DCR, Walden Pond State Reservation
• A Walden photo gallery
• A History of the Uses of Walden Pond by Austin Meredith

v • d • e U.S. National Register of Historic Places Keeper of the Register · History of the National Register of Historic Places · Property types · Historic district · Contributing property List of entries National Park Service · National Historic Landmarks · National Battlefields · National Historic Sites · National Historical Parks · National Memorials · National Monuments