Lake Chaubunagungamaug
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lake Chaubunagungamaug (pronounced /tʃəˌbʌnəˈɡʌŋɡəmɔːɡ/), also known as Webster Lake, is a lake in the town of Webster, Massachusetts, United States. It is located near the Connecticut border and has a surface area of 1,442 acres (5.83 km²). The translation of the name of the lake is believed to be, "Fishing Place at the Boundaries -- Neutral Meeting Grounds".[1] This is different from the translation, "You fish on your side, I fish on my side, and nobody fish in the middle", a hoax believed to have been concocted by the late Laurence J. Daly, a Worcester newspaper correspondent.[1]
Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg (/ˌleɪk tʃəˈɡɑːɡəɡɑːɡ ˌmænˈtʃɑːɡəɡɑːɡ tʃəˌbʌnəˈɡʌŋɡəmɑːɡ/[1][2]), a 45-letter alternative name for this body of water, is often cited as the longest place name in the United States and one of the longest in the world. Today, "Webster Lake" may be the name most used, but some (including many residents of Webster), take pride in reeling off the longer versions.[2]
| Lake Chaubunagungamaug | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | Webster, Massachusetts |
| Coordinates | 42°02′30″N 71°50′30″W / 42.04167°N 71.84167°WCoordinates: 42°02′30″N 71°50′30″W / 42.04167°N 71.84167°W |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 3.25 mi (5.23 km) |
| Max. width | 1.125 mi (1.811 km) |
| Surface area | 1,442 acres (584 ha) |
| Shore length1 | 17 mi (27 km) |
| Surface elevation | 477 feet (145.39 metres) |
| Islands | 8 |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Contents |
[edit] The name
This lake has several alternative names. Lake Chaubunagungamaug is the name of the lake as recognized by the U.S. Department of the Interior,[3] however, many area residents, as well as the official website of the town of Webster, consider the longer version correct.[4]
The name comes from the language of the local Nipmuc people. The lake was an important fishing spot on the borders of several tribal territories and lay at the nexus of many local paths of the Great Trail system. For these reasons the lake was often used as a meeting place.
Algonquian-speaking peoples had several different names for the lake as recorded on old maps and historical records. However, all of these were similar in part and had almost the same translation. Among other early names were "Chabanaguncamogue" and "Chaubanagogum".[5] Early town records show the name as "Chabunagungamaug Pond", also the name of the local Nipmuc town (recorded in 1668 and 1674 with somewhat different spellings). This has been translated as 'boundary fishing place',[6] but something close to "fishing place at the boundary" or "that which is a divided island lake" may be more accurate.[7]
A map of 1795, showing the town of Dudley, indicated the name as "Chargoggaggoggmanchoggagogg". A survey of the lake done in 1830 lists the name as "Chaubunagungamaugg", the older name. The following year, both Dudley and Oxford, which adjoined the lake, filed maps listing the name as "Chargoggagoggmanchoggagogg".[5]
Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunaguhgamaugg, the full-length version of the name, is the longest place name in the United States and 6th longest in the world. An even longer, 49-letter version of the name, "Chargoggagoggmanchauggauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg" has been cited (extra letters in bold).[2] Its 17 uses of "g" are the most instances of any letter in a word. The name also contains 10 instances of the letter "a" (not including the "a" in "lake"), more than any word in the English language.[2]
This longest name means approximately "Englishmen at Manchaug at the fishing place at the boundary" and was applied in the 19th century when White people built factories in the area. "Manchaug" is derived from the "Monuhchogoks", a group of Nipmuck that lived by the lakeshore. Spelling of the long name varies, even on official signs near the lake; in 2009, following six years of press reports, the local Chamber of Commerce agreed to have the spelling corrected on its signs, where a 45-letter version of the name arrayed in a semicircle was used. It did not correspond to any of the two dozen variants in the GNIS.[8] Webster schools use one long form of the name in various capacities.[5][9]
Larry Daly, editor of The Webster Times, wrote a humorous article in the 1920s about the lake and the disputes concerning the meaning of its name. He proposed the tongue-in-cheek translation "You Fish on Your Side, I Fish on My Side, Nobody Fish in the Middle".[1] It has met with so much popular acceptance that relatively little attention has been paid to the actual translation.
Two songs about the lake's name have been written. One was a regional song from the 1930s and the other was recorded by Ethel Merman and Ray Bolger and released in 1954 by Decca. The latter incorporates the tale about the lake's name according to Daly.
In the 1950s, a plan to set the official name of the water to Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg rather than the longer version inspired a poem of doggerel verse which concludes:
"Touch not a g!" No impious hand
Shall wrest one from that noble name
Fifteen in all their glory stand
And ever shall the same.
For never shall that number down,
Tho Gogg and Magogg shout and thunder;
Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg's renown
Shall blaze, the beacon of the town,
While nations gaze and wonder.[10]
[edit] The lake
Lake Chaubunagungamaug was formed by the retreat of glaciers and is replenished from an underwater spring. The area includes three smaller bodies of water joined by narrow channels: North Pond, Middle Pond and South Pond. There are 17 miles (27 km) of shore line. The length of the Lake is 3.25 miles (5.23 km), and at its widest point in Middle Pond, the distance is 1.125 miles (1.811 km). The shore line of North Pond is 5.78 miles (9.30 km), of Middle Pond, 7.06 miles (11.36 km), and South Pond is 4.17 miles (6.71 km).[5][11]
These waters attracted Samuel Slater to the area; along with Slater Mill and other local sites, the milldams and associated factories near this lake marked the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the New World. The "Englishmen at Manchaug," reference dates from this time. Now where the lake connects to an inlet of the French River there is a source of hydroelectric power.[5][11]
Lake Chaubunagungamaug stands at the approximate halfway point between the cities of Boston and Hartford. Route 16 passes along the north shore of the lake near the route's intersection with I-395. The lake is a center for recreational activity in this part of New England and attracts people for boating, swimming and fishing. In warm weather, the 11-acre (45,000 m2) Memorial Beach is a popular destination. In the winter, the lake attracts skaters and icefishers.[11]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Patenaude, Ed (June 28, 2001). "Fabrication leaves us gasping - Old twist to name of lake comes to light". Worcester Telegram & Gazette. http://www.websterlakeassociation.com/GeneralInterest/Fabricationleavesusgasping.htm. Retrieved on 2009-04-20.
- ^ a b c Miller, Jeff (1 April 2006). "A Collection of Word Oddities and Trivia". http://web.archive.org/web/20071013132235/http://members.aol.com/gulfhigh2/words10.html. Retrieved on 2006-05-25.
- ^ USGS GNIS: Lake Chaubunagungamaug
- ^ Town of Webster, accessed January 15, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e Old Webster History
- ^ Trumbull, James Hammond. 1881. Indian Names of Places etc., In and On the Borders of Connecticut: With interpretations of Some of Them. Reprinted in facsimile 1974 under title Indian Names in Connecticut by Archon Books, Hamden, Conn.
- ^ Goddard, Ives. 1974. Untitled review of Trumbull in International Journal of American Linguistics Vol. 43, No. 2 (Apr., 1977), pp. 157-159, University of Chicago Press.
- ^ Brian Lee (2009-04-14). "Misspelling on lake signs to get overdue correction". Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
- ^ Nipmuc Place Names of New England
- ^ Poem by Bertha A. Joslin
- ^ a b c Landscape Planning Study
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lake Chaubunagungamaug |
