On February 25,1928 water was first pumped into the valley, and by September 29, 1928, Candlewood Lake was officially ready for business.

On September 29, 2016, Connecticut's largest body of water, Candlewood Lake will celebrate its 88th birthday. On July 15, 1926, Connecticut Light and Power's Board of Directors gave the green light to build a man-made reservoir in order to produce electric power. This was the very first large scale project in the United States to adopt the concept of a pumped-water storage facility.

Within a few weeks of getting the OK, 50 surveyors began to scout the valley, and lawyers were hired to process the deeds transferring land held by some families. In late July of 1926, 1,400 men were hired to clear 5,420 acres of farmland and forests on land belonging to Brookfield, Danbury, New Milford, New Fairfield, and Sherman. Large crews of woodsmen from Maine and Canada set up four work camps throughout the basin and hand felled 4,500 acres of woodland burning the lumber in massive bonfires. Some say that some of the largest trees were actually securely chained to the ground and left behind.

During the clearing operations, at least 100 buildings that included schools and churches had to be demolished or relocated and some farm buildings were even left standing along with farm implements. Since the valley was flooded to make Candlewood Lake in 1928, it's been rumored that the town of Jerusalem, which was located between Birch Point and Lyn Deming Park in New Milford was left intact. If you strapped on the scuba gear to explore that area, you might find houses, barns, and meeting halls emerging from out of the murky water like apparitions.

Birch Point on Candlewood Lake - Credit Google Instant Streetview Satellite Shot
Credit: Google Maps
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Imagine this, cemeteries had to be relocated before they could flood the valley. The workers were offered $1 per body to remove the remains from the original graves for relocation. Coming soon, a brief history on the construction of the power plant built in New Milford to pump the water from the Housatonic River into Candlewood Lake.

Sources used to write this blog post included connecticuthistory.org, and candlewoodlakeauthority.org.

Listen to Ethan Carey on the Ethan & Lou Show weekdays from 5:30-10AM on 95.1 FM. You can listen online at i95rock.com/listen-live/ or by downloading the radioPup app for your mobile device.

 

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