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Candlewood Lake - Credit Ethan Carey
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Candlewood Lake was "born" on Sept 28, 1928 with the help of 1,400 men who came down from Maine, Canada, Connecticut, and all points in between to clear the valleys, farm houses, and to relocate people, to ready the land from New Fairfield to Sherman, Danbury to Brookfield, and up into New Milford with the ultimate goal of creating a man made wonder. On its 86th birthday, thanks to the article in New Fairfield's Citizen's News and the book by Susan Murphy and Gary Smolen titled "Images of America: Candlewood Lake,"  I'd like to share a brief history of Candlewood Lake along with some of my personal photos of what the CT State Legislature calls, "A Connecticut Crown Jewel."

In it's early days, Candlewood Lake was referred to by an international travel writer as, "The 8th Wonder of the World." On July 15, 1926, Connecticut Light and Power made the decision to construct the Rocky River Power Plant and the necessary creation of Candlewood Lake to fuel it. 50 surveyors and a large team of lawyers began the arduous process of securing 6,000 acres of land in 5 towns. Some of the land needed for purchase had been held by some families since the American Revolution in the late 1700's.

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Candlewood Lake Fall of 2014 - Credit Ethan Carey
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Candlewood Lake - Credit Ethan Carey
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Construction began early in 1927 when about 1,400 men began cutting and burning 4,500 acres of trees. Six cemeteries needed to be relocated and 35 families had to be moved of the land. 31 miles of roads had to be abandoned. One mile of dams and dykes had to be built at seven locations with the main dam measuring 952 feet long and 100 feet high. To get all this construction done, a temporary construction village had to be built to provide housing, a mess hall, a barbershop, a store, and a bank.

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Candlewood Lake Sunset - Credit Ethan Carey
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Fun on Candlewood Lake - Credit Ethan Carey
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In as little as 18 months, as the project neared completion, CL&P began pumping water, and on Feb. 25.1928, the first water from the Housatonic River was pumped uphill about 225 feet into the brand new lake. On Sept. 28, 1928, after 26 months of construction, the water level reached 429 feet and the project was deemed complete! Candlewood Lake is the largest lake in Connecticut with a surface area of over 8.5 square miles. The lake is just shy of 11 miles long and is 2 miles wide at its widest point and has over 60 miles of shoreline. The deepest point is 85 feet although it averages 30 feet deep and contains 46 billion gallons of water.

I bought our first boat for one of Mindy's birthdays about 28 years ago. To me and my family, Candlewood Lake has brought us never ending joy as we pulled our kids for hours and hours on one of those huge riding lake toys. As the kids grew up and we began to slow down, we bought our first pontoon boat, mainly because it never spills our drinks. To this day, whenever we hop on and begin to cruise, the stress just melts away. It's like yoga on the water. On of our happiest days of the year is when the pontoon goes back in the water in late April and one of the saddest days is when it comes out in late October. Happy 86th Birthday Candlewood Lake! "May You Live Long and Prosper!"

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Spectacular Candlewood Lake Sunset - Credit Ethan Carey
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Candlewood Lake with my Grandson Bradley - Credit Ethan Carey
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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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