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Clay Pit Pond

Belmont, MassachusettsLakes of Middlesex County, MassachusettsPonds of Massachusetts
Clay Pit Pond, July 2012, Belmont MA
Clay Pit Pond, July 2012, Belmont MA

Clay Pit Pond, also known as Claypit Pond, is a pond in the Boston suburb of Belmont in Middlesex County, Massachusetts situated between Concord Avenue and Belmont High School. It is a man-made pond, excavated as the source of clay for industrial brick-making on the site from 1888 to 1926. The pond was formed in 1933 when the Wellington Brook was redirected to flood the site, making it an essential part of the drainage system for much of Belmont. The Parry Brothers first opened a brickyard in the vicinity of the current pond in 1888. In 1900, nearly all brick making operations in Middlesex County were merged into the New England Brick Company, which acquired the site and increased production to 15 million bricks per year with a work force of 75. By 1926, the highest quality clay was exhausted and the site was abandoned, reportedly leaving behind an 1884 Marion steam shovel at the bottom of the pit. The pond is inhabited by bluegill, common carp, and largemouth bass, among other species. The Town of Belmont purchased the abandoned pit in 1927 for $22,500 to use as a waste dump site. However, in 1933, the Town diverted the Wellington Brook through a culvert to flood the site with 80 million gallons of water, creating the Clay Pit Pond.In March 2010, the pond overflowed onto the road after two days of rain, closing down the adjacent high school.In September 2020, several Belmont citizens illegally removed more than 80 trees and shrubs from the south side of Clay Pit Pond. The unauthorized deforestation of this protected wetland area has raised environmental concerns.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Clay Pit Pond (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Clay Pit Pond
Concord Avenue,

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Latitude Longitude
N 42.393888888889 ° E -71.165 °
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Belmont High School

Concord Avenue
02478
Massachusetts, United States
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Website
belmont.k12.ma.us

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Clay Pit Pond, July 2012, Belmont MA
Clay Pit Pond, July 2012, Belmont MA
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Fo Guang Buddhist Temple Boston

The Fo Guang Buddhist Temple of Boston (FGBTB) (Chinese: 佛光山波士頓三佛中心; pinyin: Fóguāng Shān Bōshìdùn Sān Fó Zhōngxīn) is a branch of the Fo Guang Shan international Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhist order. It is the first temple that Fo Guang Shan Temple established in Massachusetts.In 1990 Ven. Hsin Ting and Hui Kai were invited by Boston Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to give Dharma talks and subsequently Venerable Hui Chuan was invited to give a talk on Humanistic Buddhism. In 1997, Venerable Master Hsing Yun, the founder of FGBT Boston gave a public talk in Billerica with more than 300 people attended and from there they established the Buddha's Light International Association Boston sub-chapter. In 1998 Fo Guang Shan Temple purchased a restaurant located on Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, in between Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to propagate Dharma in Boston. This place was name as the Fo Guang Shan Triple Buddha's Center (also known as Greater Boston Buddhist Cultural Center (International Buddhist Progress Society)) which in Chinese means the “Harvard, Fo Guang Shan and Buddha’s Light Center” and the opening ceremony was held on January 3, 1999. The center was operated as a teahouse and a bookstore, however, the center also includes all kind of interest classes including reading group, English meditation class, Children meditation class, and Dharma with Dinner session etc. The center services all range of local communities, especially the professors and students from Harvard University and MIT. The center also had many interactions with the local Buddhist communities and religious groups. Due to the growth of the members and also the limitation of the venue, in 2014 Fo Guang Buddhist Temple of Boston moved shifted to 711 Concord Ave, Cambridge, MA 01238.