An editorial by the Lunenburg Historical Commission

    Did you know...

Take almost any path you please and ten to one it carries you down to water” is a passage from Melville’s Moby-Dick. Nothing could be more accurate in Lunenburg as we have an abundance of natural and man-made waterways throughout the Town.

    Whether you are content to visit and explore the Cowdrey nature area and view the Mulpus and Fulcrum Brooks that have coursed through Lunenburg from its earliest days, or visit Lake Massapoag in the south of Town, Lake Whalom to the West or opt for more recent watery attractions such as Hickory Hills Lake or Lake Shirley you are never far away from water in Lunenburg.

    There are historical elements to all of these sites as well. The Mulpus and Catacoonamog Brooks, to the south along with Pearl Hill Brook, & Baker’s Pond to the north were the sites of numerous sawmills, wheelwright, lumber and box mills, as well as grist and flour mills. Even Lake Whalom had a cotton mill in 1832 and a threshing mill in 1859. All are examples of the industrious nature of Lunenburg’s settlers.

    Spring fed Lake Whalom was cited by Henry David Thoreau as having the purest water he encountered when he travelled through Lunenburg. It was also the site of ice harvesting in the 1800’s. In more recent times Lake Whalom became a recreational destination beginning in the early 1900’s and it continues today as a boating and fishing attraction.

    Hickory Hills Lake represents itself as the largest private lake in Massachusetts. Its history dates back to 1925 when Charles P. Dickinson of Lunenburg converted a swampy area along Mulpus Brook to become Dickinson Reservoir and subsequently Hickory Hills Lake. His vision was to create a private lake for family pleasure and for reduction of downstream flood damage. It even served as a landing spot for his seaplane. The lake remained in the Dickinson family for many years and it was ultimately passed on to the Hickory Hills Landowners, Inc. who manage the lake’s numerous recreational activities today.

    Lake Shirley Reservoir is another expansive, man-made and maintained watery site in the southernmost tip of Lunenburg, extending into the adjacent Town of Shirley. It dates its beginnings to the Shaker Community there and contained the controlling dam for Shirley’s Samson Cordage Works. In 1950 the Lake Shirley Improvement Corporation was formed and it began to develop as another of Lunenburg’s lakeside communities and it remains today an active residential development in Town.

    Lunenburg is unique and fortunate to have the numerous waterways that course their way through Town. Take almost any path and discover some history.