SHREWSBURY – For as far back as most local residents can recall, there was a legend of an “Indian Wall” that ran across Jordan Pond under the water’s surface. The story was that Native Americans had built the wall at some point long ago in order to be able to cross the pond more easily.
Some older residents still remember being able to stand on the wall while taking a dip in the pond many years ago. The photograph, taken in the early 1900s, shows the pond with the approximate location of the wall in the center of the view. It wasn’t until just recently that a man (now in his late eighties) who grew up just a few yards away from the pond revealed that the wall was really built by one of the ice companies that once “harvested” blocks of ice from the pond. The wall helped keep the water from circulating, so that it would freeze more quickly!
Also of interest is the fact that, on the far shore of the pond we can see the “high tension towers” that carried electric power through the region for many years. These were standing until very recent times, when they were taken down and replaced by an underground system.
Was the story of it being an “Indian Wall” just a prank? We may never know, but it certainly was believed by many people.
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