History Of Indian Lake

     Hello, my name is Ella McCarty and I am a resident here at Indian Lake. For my Girl Scout Silver Award project, I decided to put together a research book about the wildlife and history of Indian Lake. Another part of my project was to build all new benches to be put near the lake. Below is my research of the history of Indian Lake. I would like to thank Mr. Cordeiro for all his help and expertise. This project would have been much harder without him! A paper copy will soon be put in a shelf under one of the benches down by the lake. I hope you enjoy!

History Of Indian Lake

Before there was as much technology as there is today, citizens of South Kingstown relied on the Saugatucket river to run the textile mills. When this river dried up, they needed a solution. The people of South Kingstown created a hole, moving rocks and clay. They most likely used cattle to help the moving of large rocks. Citizens filled this hole with 600 million gallons of water. They named this water source the J.P. Hazard Reservoir. In the 1950’s, the village community around the reservoir was called Indian Lake Shores. In 1988, the land was bought and the Village At Indian Lake community was established. There are 93 households in our community today. The lake is 6 to 9 feet deep, varying on the location of measurement. Water near the bridge flows from Fresh Meadow Stream. Since the establishment of our neighborhood in 1988, there have been many changes and improvements made. One of the biggest changes was in 2000, when the Department for Environmental Management built our fish ladder. This was done to help Herring and other anadromous fish on their journey to and from Indian Lake.