A Lost Pond

A Lost Pond. Catoctin Furnace Iron Trail.

“There was a boat in there, a little boat…and we would go out on that boat at lunchtime when we were in elementary school, and it had a hole in the boat, so we would bail the water out.” , , Beverly Hoke, Catoctin Furnace resident, June 19, 2021.

, You are standing by the site of what was once Locust Pond, an artificial lake originally used to wash iron ore in order to remove its impurities. In the 20th Century Locust Pond became a popular spot for all kinds of village recreation. Memories of the pond in the mid-20th century have been recorded in oral histories that recount students from the nearby schoolhouse sneaking out to go boating in an old rowboat. The boat was rumored to have been used by President Roosevelt for fishing, but it was old and leaky by, the 1950s when children as young as ten took turns bailing out water so the boat would not sink. In the winter; the pond was used for ice skating.

When Route 15 was relocated, in the 1960s, Locust Pond was almost filled in and covered by the new highway. The pond was, buried under what is now the southbound lane when the highway was expanded in the 1970s., [Captions:] , « Local children boated in an old rowboat on the pond. Skiff by artists Tom Rudd and Margo McCafferty (National Park Service), woodcut, 1998., « (Left) Families skated on Locust Pond in the winter. Original painting, Winter's Charms by McEntee, N.A., Engraved by R. Hinshelwood, 1868., (Above) Locust Pond as recorded on a 1911 geologic survey map., (Below) Oral history accounts describe ice skating on local ponds such as HOke Pond in Thurmont, pictured here.