Long Pond resident Steve Waller has written a book about life on our lovely kettle pond. A Moving Meditation focuses on the joy of canoeing and observing wildlife, including Long Pond’s annual river herring migration. It offers an intimate look at the pond’s intriguing natural and human history and its abundant animal life. See below for a 20% discount code if you purchase the book through University of Massachusetts Press.
Amy Beach - Long Pond Composer
Amy Beach (1867-1944) was an American pianist and symphony composer who spent most of her summers on Long Pond. As a pianist, she was a child prodigy, playing with the Boston Symphony as a teenager. In 1896, the BSO played one of her original compositions, a first for an American female composer. She married a wealthy Boston surgeon, who was a music fan and supported her work. After he died in 1911, she toured to acclaim in Europe for three years, often playing her own compositions. In the winters, she lived in Boston, San Francisco, and New York City.
She bought five “woodland” acres along the north shore of Long Pond in Centerville in 1894. She said she and her husband could have been happy in a tent, but her piano would not. So “...we built a cottage around the piano.” She often composed in the cabin they built near the water.
The property, which Beach called “The Pines”, was not surveyed until 1930, and the description in the town records before that time provides little detail. However, according to the 1940 town records, Beach owned frontage on the south side of Rt 28 for 400 feet west from the Phinney’s Lane intersection. Her property extended to the pond, so it included what today is the east half of the Sachem Drive circle and the lots at 1413 and 1421 Falmouth Rd.
She later enlarged her holdings to 11 acres, and loyally returned to Long Pond each summer. After she died in 1944, her heir subdivided the property into at least six parcels. Her cottage was demolished to make way for new homes, but her love of Long Pond lives on in our hearts.
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Interested in seeing more about what’s going on around Long Pond and engaging with neighbors? Join the Long Pond Centerville Neighbors Facebook Group. It’s a private group where neighbors can share photos and happenings, ask questions about what’s going on around the area, and catch up with one another.
How Our Pond Began
About 12,000 years ago, the northern third of the Earth was covered with a thick sheet of ice. Over the previous thousands of years, the icepack received more snow each winter than melted each summer, so it grew larger and heavier. The weight of the added snow and ice pushed the leading edge of the ice southward across Cape Cod Bay, dredging up rocks and crushing them against each other. Cape Cod was a long pile of rocks and sand at the front edge of this huge glacial tongue of ice. The glacier stood nearly a mile tall along the north shore of today’s Cape Cod. Sandy Neck and the Outer Cape beyond today’s Brewster did not yet exist. Previous ice ages had dredged up today’s Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.
The earth was warming, and the ice had stopped advancing toward the south. Huge waterfalls splashed off the wall of ice, and occasionally massive blocks of ice toppled off. A group of huge blocks crashed off, breaking into three pieces and creating the three lobes of Long Pond. As the ice melted and receded, a larger chunk fell and created Lake Wequaquet. The ice chunks were surrounded by sand and stones washed out of the glacier. As the fallen ice melted, the pond water rose to its present level. Many such ‘kettle ponds’ were formed from the grand ice falls, like Walden Pond in Concord. This process happened almost a thousand times on Cape Cod.
With no connection to the Bay or Nantucket Sound, Long Pond had no fish. Perhaps native Americans released some and started its fish population. In 1867, a group of unemployed Civil War veterans were hired by the town to dig a ‘herring run’ from Nantucket Sound up to Long Pond and on to Lake Wequaquet. They excavated by hand, using horses to pull the loads of dirt and rock from their project. The ditch they dug is our herring run, now called the Centerville River.
Today we benefit from this rich history, with herring swimming up our run to spawn each April and May, then leaving for their ocean home soon afterwards. Their minnows remain in our pond until late autumn, providing food for the bass and sunfish, and eventually coming back to spawn at the age of three or older. Scientists estimate that only one in a thousand survives to spawn.
Our heritage is threatened by the annual cyanobacteria bloom, the invasive weed Hydrilla, and other byproducts of human settlement around Long Pond. Our pond is a finite resource, and these threats could ruin it for all – humans, herring, osprey, turtles, bass, and others. Our septic systems, lawn fertilizer, and storm runoff from driveways and streets pollute it. The Association for the Preservation of Long Pond seeks to preserve the pond in its original state, for enjoyment today and for generations to come. By taking action together, we can save the pond from ourselves.
Pondapalooza 2023
A sunny Saturday made for a perfect backdrop for Pondapalooza 2023. It was great to see dozens of folks out on Long Pond enjoying the day and our beautiful pond. There were feisty pirates, talented performers, and Love Boat crew members spotted amongst the craft on the pond. There was also an opportunity to learn about the Herring Run and Rowing to Recovery. We’re already looking forward to next year!
Rowing on Long Pond
Watercraft on Long Pond is diverse. Many folks in the adult age group prefer the stable pontoon boats, with comfortable seats and little danger of capsize. Other boaters find kayaks and stand-up paddle boards more suitable, but when the wind and waves come up, they may get wet. Fishermen prefer flat-bottomed boats with a small motor or kayaks to reach their quarry. There are a few who make circuits around the pond in canoes. But it has been years since we saw rowing shells on Long Pond.
Residents Tony and Jean Antin had a double scull crew shell several years ago. Tony was coxswain for Rutgers during his college days after WWII, so he knew the sport well. Tony has now passed away and Jean lives near family in New Hampshire.
This summer a homeowner on Blantyre Avenue is hosting a group of rowers who launch their boats from her waterfront home. Most of the rowers are women, several of whom are cancer survivors. The rowing program is called “Rowing to Recovery.” One of the intrepid rowers is blind, so she goes out in a double with a sighted teammate. The other rowers are all in single-scull boats.
Long Pond is nearly 1000 meters in length, which is the distance of some rowing races. The practice usually involves rowing laps around the Pond, rather than contests in a straight line.
If you see the rowers, please give them a friendly wave and keep your wake to a minimum.
