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Whittenton Pond Dam

1832 establishments in Massachusetts2013 disestablishments in MassachusettsBuildings and structures in Taunton, MassachusettsDams completed in 1832Dams in Massachusetts
History of Bristol County, MassachusettsUnited States privately owned dams

Whittenton Pond Dam or Whittenton Street Dam was a private earthen dam across the Mill River in Taunton, Massachusetts. Built in 1832, the original dam was a half-mile upstream from downtown Taunton. It was 12 feet high and constructed of timber. It was built of wood in 1832, and flooded Taunton when it failed in 1968.The dam was purchased during the summer of 2005 by Infinity Holdings, a real-estate development company in the Boston area. Historically heavy and protracted rains fell on New England beginning October 12, 2005. On the morning of Sunday, October 16, officials realized that the dam was in trouble. The dam was determined to be in imminent danger of failure and of flooding Taunton with a 6-foot (1.8 m) wall of water. On Tuesday, 2000 residents of the city were evacuated and twenty-one troops from the National Guard were stationed in Taunton. School in Taunton was cancelled, and several roads were closed. Several high-volume pumps were employed to divert water around the dam and drain Whittenton Pond before a catastrophic failure could occur. Though the wooden dam held, later inspections uncovered extensive structural damage. (The Commonwealth of Massachusetts had last inspected the dam for safety and structural integrity in 2003.) After Whittenton Pond was drained, the old dam was demolished, and a new compressed earth and rock dam was built in its place. In 2008, the Whittenton Pond Dam was part of a study by the Massachusetts Riverways Program to review the feasibility of dam removals along the Mill River.The dam was permanently removed in 2013.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Whittenton Pond Dam (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Whittenton Pond Dam
Whittenton Street, Taunton

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N 41.9243 ° E -71.1065 °
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Whittenton Street 437
02780 Taunton
Massachusetts, United States
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Lake Sabbatia
Lake Sabbatia

Lake Sabbatia, sometimes known as Scaddings Pond is a 248-acre (100 ha) great pond in Taunton, Massachusetts, near Watson Pond State Park. The lake is where Mill River begins and the Snake River ends. It is the largest lake in the city of Taunton and the most popularly used. There are several coves and an island within the lake. Parts of its coastline are populated with woods, streets, and residential homes. Lake Sabbatia is used for a variety of recreational activities such as boating, swimming, fishing, and ice fishing. There is a boat ramp off Bay Street into the lake. Various plants of the genus Sabbatia usually have pink cymose flowers and occur from acid bogs to brackish marshes. Sabbatia chloiroides grows in Plymouth county, on the margin of ponds; in July it has large, showy pink flowers. There is also a variety with white flowers. On October 18, 2005, much of downtown Taunton was closed when the century-old wooden dam began to collapse due to heavy rainfall; fears of floods up to 6 feet (1.8 m) deep caused mass evacuation. Lake Sabbatia and Watson Pond are located entirely within the boundary of the state-designated Area of Critical Environmental Concern, the Canoe River Aquifer. In April 2007 the residents of the Lake Sabbatia area formed a civic organization devoted to rebuilding the Morey's Bridge Dam at Bay Street. Morey's Bridge is the dam that regulates Lake Sabbatia water levels. The owner of the dam, faced with an order from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation to repair or breach the dam, reached out to the local citizens to raise the necessary funds to construct a new dam. The dam owner would have been within his legal rights to dismantle the dam, thereby reducing the lake to a swampy marshland. He chose to match dollar for dollar all funds raised by the citizens. The citizens raised over $20,000 toward the construction of the new dam. On July 7, 2007 the private owners in the community turned out to construct a 120-foot (37 m) long block structure in front of the old dam, to save the lake and return the lake to normal water levels. Over 50 residents turned out to help build the dam, with local contractors donating heavy equipment, drivers, and materials. The spillway was designed to allow the lake to self regulate its water level, protecting the upstream habitats from draining and allowing fish to flourish. Future plans are to repair the original dam structure and incorporate a fish ladder.