Walden Pond facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Walden Pond |
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Walden Pond in 2023
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 Walden Pond
Location in Massachusetts
Walden Pond
Location in the United States
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| Location | Concord, Massachusetts |
| Coordinates | 42°26′21″N 71°20′23″W / 42.4392°N 71.3397°W |
| 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 miles (2.7 km) |
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Walden Pond
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| Nearest city | Concord, Massachusetts |
| Area | 250 acres (100 ha) |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000790 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | December 29, 1962 |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Walden Pond is a famous pond in Concord, Massachusetts, in the United States. It's a great example of a kettle hole, which is a bowl-shaped dip in the ground. These holes were made by huge blocks of ice left behind by melting glaciers about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago.
Today, Walden Pond is a protected area called the Walden Pond State Reservation. This state park is 335-acre (136 ha) big and is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 1962. This was because of its connection to the famous writer Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862). He lived in a small cabin by the pond for two years. His experiences there inspired his well-known book, Walden; or, Life in the Woods, published in 1854. A law called the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 helps protect the pond.
Contents
Exploring Walden Pond State Reservation
The Walden Pond Reservation is located south of Massachusetts Route 2. It is mostly west of Massachusetts Route 126 in Concord and Lincoln, Massachusetts. Even though a train line passes by, the closest station is in Concord center. This station is about 1.4 miles northwest of the park.
The park covers 335 acres (136 ha). Its main feature is Walden Pond itself, which is a 64.5-acre (26.1 ha) body of water. A short distance north of the pond, you can find the spot where Thoreau's cabin once stood. Granite posts mark this important historical location. Some parts of the pond's edge are sandy beaches. Other parts have steep slopes leading down to the water from the trails that go all around the pond. There are three buildings at the main beach area on the southeastern side of the pond. The park's parking lot is across Route 126. A sloped path leads from the road down to the pond.
The Story of Henry David Thoreau at Walden
The writer and philosopher Henry David Thoreau lived on the northern shore of Walden Pond. He stayed there for two years, starting in the summer of 1845. Thoreau was inspired by Zilpah White, a formerly enslaved woman. She lived in a small house nearby and earned a living by spinning flax into linen. Her ability to live independently was very unusual for women in Concord at that time.
Thoreau wrote about his time at the pond in his famous book, Walden; or, Life in the Woods. This book made the pond well-known. The land where Thoreau lived was owned by his friend and teacher, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson allowed Thoreau to use the land for his experiment in simple living.
Walden Pond was not always a peaceful place. It was once a neglected area outside of town. The land had been used for mining, and the town dump was eventually located nearby. Thoreau's writings helped people appreciate nature more. They also inspired efforts to protect and restore land that had been misused. The Concord Museum has some items from Thoreau's cabin, like his bed, chair, and desk.
During one winter, a large group of men came to the pond by train. They cut ice from the pond for sixteen days. Thoreau wrote in his journal about seeing the ice harvesters. He thought about how the pure water from Walden Pond would travel far away. He noted that people in distant cities, even in India, would drink water that was once ice from Walden.
An amusement park used to be at the western end of the pond. It had swings and food stands. This park burned down in 1902 and was never rebuilt.
Protecting Walden Pond for the Future
In 1922, the families of Emerson and others gave the land around the pond to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In 1961, the officials managing the land planned to clear a large part of the park for a parking lot. They wanted to make other "improvements." An acre of woods was already cleared when people sued to stop the destruction.
Judge David A Rose ruled that the original gift of the land meant it had to be preserved. He stopped any more building. This decision became famous across the country. Judge Rose received many letters from children thanking him for saving the land. Walden Pond became part of the state parks system in 1975. It is also protected as a national landmark by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.
In 1977, a special type of parking lot was built at Walden Pond. It used "porous pavement" that lets water soak through. This was a new idea at the time. Even after many years and cold winters, this special pavement still works well.
In 1990, the musician Don Henley started The Walden Woods Project. His goal was to stop building on the land around Walden Pond. Working with other groups, they protected over 85 acres of land. This included Bear Garden Hill, a place where Thoreau enjoyed walking at night. In 1995, a historic home was bought to become a research center for the Thoreau Institute.
Legends and Stories of Walden Pond
How Walden Pond Was Formed: A Legend from Thoreau
When Henry David Thoreau lived at Walden Pond, he thought a lot about its features. In his book Walden, he wrote about the pond's amazing water. He described how clear, colorful, and cool it was. He also wrote about the unique animals, rocks, and how the pond's surface was like a perfect mirror.
Thoreau wondered where the pond's clean water came from. He noticed it had no visible rivers flowing in or out. He thought there might be a hidden spring at the bottom. He also noticed the strong, natural shape of the pond's edges. He believed a special natural event created the pond. He also shared local myths about its creation:
Some people wondered how the shore became so neatly paved. My townsmen have all heard the old story. The oldest people told me they heard it when they were young. It says that long ago, Native Americans were holding a pow-wow on a hill here. This hill was as tall as the pond is now deep. The story says they used bad language, though Native Americans were never known for that. While they were doing this, the hill shook and suddenly sank. Only one old woman, named Walden, escaped. The pond was named after her. Some thought that when the hill shook, these stones rolled down and became the shore. It's clear that once there was no pond here, and now there is one. This old story doesn't disagree with the account of an old settler I mentioned. He remembered coming here with his divining-rod. He saw a thin mist rising from the grass, and his hazel stick pointed down. He decided to dig a well there. As for the stones, many still think the waves couldn't have made them. But I see that the hills around are full of the same stones. People had to pile them up in walls by the railroad. Also, there are more stones where the shore is steepest. So, for me, it's not a mystery anymore. I see how the stones got there. If the name didn't come from a place in England, like Saffron Walden, one might think it was first called Walled-in Pond.
Romantic Ideas and Walden Pond
In his book, Thoreau also shared stories about special feelings and experiences around the pond. He was a transcendentalist and knew a lot about Romanticism. He told stories that suggest the pond might be like the place of the Grail Legend in America. For example, a disappearing treasure chest in Walden Pond sounds like the fleeting encounter with the grail in an old German story. The canoe on the pond reminds us of a boat in an old fairy tale. Thoreau wrote:
An old man who visited this pond almost sixty years ago, when thick forests surrounded it, told me that back then he sometimes saw it full of ducks and other water birds. There were many eagles around too. He came here to fish and used an old log canoe he found on the shore. It was made of two white pine logs, hollowed out and joined together. It was very clumsy but lasted many years before it got waterlogged and perhaps sank. He didn't know who owned it; it belonged to the pond. He used to make a rope for his anchor from strips of hickory bark tied together. An old man, a potter, who lived by the pond before the Revolution, once told him there was an iron chest at the bottom, and that he had seen it. Sometimes it would float up to the shore; but when you went toward it, it would go back into the deep water and disappear ...
When I first paddled a boat on Walden, thick and tall pine and oak woods completely surrounded it. In some of its coves, grapevines had grown over the trees near the water and formed shady spots where a boat could pass. The hills that form its shores are so steep, and the woods on them were so high then, that looking down from the west end, it looked like an amphitheater for some kind of forest show. I have spent many hours, when I was younger, floating on its surface as the gentle wind wished. I would paddle my boat to the middle, lie on my back across the seats on a summer morning, dreaming while awake. I would only be woken when the boat touched the sand, and I would get up to see what shore my destiny had led me to; days when being idle was the most appealing and useful activity.
Fun Things to Do at Walden Pond
Walden Pond State Reservation is a popular spot for swimming in the summer. You can also enjoy boating, hiking, picnicking, and fishing here. There is a copy of Thoreau's cabin that you can visit. The park is open all year for day visits. However, you cannot camp overnight.
A new Walden Pond Visitor Center opened in 2016. It was designed by Maryann Thompson. This building uses no fossil fuels and has many other eco-friendly features.
Walden Pond's Impact on Culture
Walden Pond has inspired many things. For example, the American film company Walden Media was named after it. The pond is also a popular subject for photographers.
C-SPAN filmed an episode of its American Writers series at Walden Pond in 2001.
Walden Pond also appears in the video game Fallout 4. In the game, Thoreau's cabin is still there. The pond is also the setting for the game 'Walden, a game'. In this game, players pretend to be Henry David Thoreau living at the pond in the 1840s. This game took over ten years to make. It is available on Mac, PC, and PS4.
Images for kids
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The pond in winter
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The pond in fall
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Site of Thoreau's cabin
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Replica of Thoreau's cabin
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Costumed Thoreau interpreter Richard Smith at Thoreau replica cabin
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Swimming beach
