{{Short description|Lake in Grafton County, New Hampshire}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox lake | name = Newfound Lake | image = Newfound Lake Sept 2005.jpg | caption = Newfound Lake from Wellington State Park, [[Bristol, NH]] | image_bathymetry = | caption_bathymetry = | location = [[Grafton County, New Hampshire]] | coords = {{coord|43|39|46|N|71|46|31|W|type:waterbody_region:US|display=inline,title}} | type = | inflow = [[Fowler River]]<br>[[Cockermouth River]] | outflow = [[Newfound River (New Hampshire)|Newfound River]] | catchment = | basin_countries = United States | length = {{convert|6.0|mi|km}} | width = {{convert|2.4|mi|km}} | area = {{convert|4451|acre|km2}} | depth = | max-depth = {{convert|183|ft|m}} | volume = | residence_time = | shore = | elevation = {{convert|588|ft|m}} | islands = Mayhew Island<ref name="Musgrove Guide"/> <br>Cliff Island<ref name="Musgrove Guide"/><ref name=LakesRegion/><br>Belle Island<ref name="Musgrove Guide"/><ref name=LakesRegion/><br>Loon Island<ref name="Musgrove Guide"/> | cities = [[Bristol, New Hampshire|Bristol]]<br>[[Bridgewater, New Hampshire|Bridgewater]]<br>[[Alexandria, New Hampshire|Alexandria]]<br>[[Hebron, New Hampshire|Hebron]] <!-- Map --> | pushpin_map = New Hampshire#USA | pushpin_label_position = left | pushpin_map_alt = Location of Newfound Lake in New Hampshire, USA. | pushpin_map_caption = <!-- Below --> | website = | reference = }} '''Newfound Lake''' is located in [[Grafton County, New Hampshire|Grafton County]], [[New Hampshire]], United States. It is situated in the [[Lakes Region (New Hampshire)|Lakes Region]] of central New Hampshire, in the towns of [[Alexandria, New Hampshire|Alexandria]], [[Bridgewater, New Hampshire|Bridgewater]], [[Bristol, New Hampshire|Bristol]], and [[Hebron, New Hampshire|Hebron]]. Its area of {{convert|4451|acre|sqkm|1}} places it behind only [[Lake Winnipesaukee]] and [[Squam Lake]] among lakes located entirely within New Hampshire, and fourth in the state overall, when [[Umbagog Lake]] on the [[Maine]] border is included.
==Geography== Newfound Lake has {{convert|22|mi}} of shoreline.<ref name=LakesRegion>{{cite web| title=Newfound Lake| url=http://www.lakesregion.org/RegionalInfo/OurLakes/NewfoundLake/tabid/184/Default.aspx| publisher=New Hampshire Lakes Region Tourism Association| access-date=6 December 2012| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130107030224/http://lakesregion.org/RegionalInfo/OurLakes/NewfoundLake/tabid/184/Default.aspx| archive-date=7 January 2013}}</ref> The lake is about {{convert|2.5|mi}} wide and {{convert|6|mi|0}} long. The deepest point is {{convert|183|ft}}. Major tributaries include the [[Fowler River]] and the [[Cockermouth River]]. Its outlet is the [[Newfound River (New Hampshire)|Newfound River]], flowing through Bristol village into the [[Pemigewasset River]]. The lake volume is 98 billion gallons of water.<ref name=NewfoundlandLake>{{cite web |title=Statistics-Education-Conservation-Stewardship |url=http://www.newfoundlake.org/statistics.html |publisher=Newfound Lake Region Association |access-date=6 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228184649/http://www.newfoundlake.org/statistics.html |archive-date=28 December 2010 }}</ref>
[[Wellington State Park]], containing the largest freshwater swimming beach in the New Hampshire state park system, is a {{convert|204|acre|adj=on}} property located on the lake's west shore in the town of Bristol.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wellington State Park |url=http://www.nhstateparks.org/explore/state-parks/wellington-state-park.aspx |publisher=New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation |access-date=August 22, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130818114356/http://www.nhstateparks.org/explore/state-parks/wellington-state-park.aspx |archive-date=August 18, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The lake has four islands: Mayhew, Belle, Cliff, and Loon.<ref name="Musgrove Guide"/> Belle Island is a small island near the southern end of the lake. It was given to the state of New Hampshire by [[Camp Mowglis]], a boys' camp located near the northern end of the lake, in 1942. According to a plaque posted on a rock on the island, the camp, known as the School of the Open, gave the island to the state "to remain perpetually in its natural beauty for a camping area especially for residents of New Hampshire, but for anyone who wants to use it. Take good care of it," the plaque reads.<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/camp.mowglis/posts/2316096345290031 Photo showing text on the plaque]</ref>
==Name== A tradition says that the Native Americans called the lake "Pasquaney",{{Cite needed|date=August 2022}} meaning "the place where birch bark for canoes is found". In 1751, John Kendall and Jonathan Farwell participated in marking the western lands of the [[John Mason (governor)|Masonian]] proprietors, where they referred to it as "Newfound Lake" or "Baker's Pond". Evidently this information did not get to Emmanuel Brown in time for publication of his ''New and Accurate Map of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and New England'' in 1752, as the lake was left nameless. In 1755, Thomas Jefferys published a ''Map of the Most Inhabited Parts of New England'' with the lake shown, but still without a name. In 1761, a map called the ''Accurate Map of his Majesty's Province of New Hampshire'' detailed the area, again with the lake nameless.<ref name="Musgrove History">{{cite book| last=Musgrove| first=Richard| title=History of the town of Bristol, Grafton County, New Hampshire| publisher=R.W. Musgrove| year=1904| url=https://archive.org/details/historytownbris00musggoog| page=[https://archive.org/details/historytownbris00musggoog/page/n342 358]| quote=history of newfound lake nh.}}</ref>{{rp|358}} In 1766 the New Chester proprietors refer to the lake in printed records as "Newfound pond".<ref name="Musgrove History"/>{{rp|358–359}} In 1791, [[Jeremy Belknap]] called it "New Chester Pond" in his ''History of New Hampshire''.
Bristol native Fred Lewis Pattee romantically referred to Newfound by its supposed Indian name in his poem "Pasquaney Lake".<ref name="Musgrove History"/>{{rp|358}}
==Original landowners== The lake was originally fought over by [[John Mason (governor)|John Mason]] and Peter Wheelright, who both claimed they owned a large plot of land with the lake being inside that plot. On November 7, 1629, Mason, a merchant from London, had the land from Newfound Lake to the [[Merrimack River]] in Massachusetts granted to him. Six months earlier, Reverend Peter Wheelright bought a large plot of land from indigenous people that was similar to the land John Mason received. The argument went to court and lasted for more than one hundred years.<ref name="Musgrove Guide">{{cite book| last=Musgrove| first=Richard| title=A Guide to Pasquaney Lake (or Newfound Lake) and Towns Upon Its Borders| year=1910| publisher=Bristol, N.H., Musgrove printing house| url=https://archive.org/details/guidetopasquaney00musg}}</ref>
Eventually, Mason's sixth heir, John Tufton Mason, won the case and sold the land to a syndicate known as the Masonian proprietors. On September 14, 1753, a syndicate living in [[Chester, New Hampshire]], bought the land from the Mason proprietors, and the land became known as "New Chester". On February 12, 1788, the territory was divided up, and the territory north and east of Newfound Lake and the Newfound River was incorporated as Bridgewater. Two thirds of the lake was incorporated as Bristol on June 24, 1819.<ref name="Musgrove Guide"/>
==Fish== In 1890, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Commissioner stocked 15,000 landlocked salmon into the Fowler River, and in 1898, the NH Fish and Game Commission stocked 40,000 whitefish from [[Lake Superior]].<ref name="Musgrove History"/>{{rp|360}}
In 1889, the state built a fish hatching house located on the Newfound River because of the "ease with which the trout could be dipped from the spawning beds and stripped of the spawn." The house was {{convert|20|by|34|ft}} and could hold 750,000 eggs. In 1897 a larger house was constructed, which held 1,000,000 [[lake trout]] eggs, 125,000 [[brook trout]] eggs, and 65,000 [[landlocked salmon]] eggs all in its first year of operation. After years of declining trout numbers, a screen was built at the outlet of the lake to prevent the fish from swimming down the Newfound River.<ref name="Musgrove History"/>{{rp|360}}
Today, 22 species of fish are found in the Newfound Lake watershed: {{div col|colwidth=20em}} * [[Brook trout]] * [[Brown bullhead]] * [[Burbot]] * [[Chain pickerel]] * [[Common shiner]] * [[Semotilus|Creek chub]] * [[Eastern blacknose dace]] * [[Fallfish]] * [[Golden shiner]] * [[Lake trout]] * [[Landlocked salmon]] * [[Longnose dace]] * Margined [[madtom]] * [[Rainbow smelt]] * [[Rainbow trout]] * [[Redbreast sunfish]] * [[Rock bass]] * [[Round whitefish]] * [[Slimy sculpin]] * [[Smallmouth bass]] * [[White sucker]] * [[Yellow perch]] {{div col end}} Of these species, six - brook trout, burbot, lake trout, rainbow smelt, round whitefish, and slimy sculpin - were selected as needing special consideration by the 2006 New Hampshire Wildlife Action Plan. Selection is based on a species' population status, integral ecological function, or the ability to extrapolate from it to indicate a healthy aquatic ecosystem.<ref>{{cite web| title=Fish Species within the Newfound Watershed| url=http://newfoundlake.org/images/Fish_Species_within_the_Newfound_Watershed.pdf| access-date=6 December 2012| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228170407/http://www.newfoundlake.org/images/Fish_Species_within_the_Newfound_Watershed.pdf| archive-date=28 December 2010}}</ref>
Every year between mid-March and early July the lake is stocked with additional fish. In 2011 this included 305 landlocked salmon, with a total weight of {{convert|2622|lb}}, and 1,845 rainbow trout weighing {{convert|2589|lb}}.<ref>{{cite web| title=New Hampshire Fish Stocking Report for 2011| url=http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Fishing/Stocking/2011/full.html| publisher=New Hampshire Fish and Game| access-date=6 December 2012}}</ref>
==Steamboats== Newfound Lake has hosted multiple [[steamboat]]s in its waters. The first, the ''Pioneer'' owned by Capt. George W. Dow, was placed in the lake in 1865. It was destroyed by fire. In 1878, Edward M. Drake put the {{convert|56|ft|adj=on}} ''[[Mount Cardigan|Cardigan]]'' on the lake, which plied until 1883. That same year, the {{convert|28|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} ''Lady Helen'' joined it, but was also destroyed in a fire.<ref name="Musgrove History"/>{{rp|360–361}} In May 1900, the ''Stella-Marion'' was launched at Kimball's beach. It freighted mail and passengers until it too was destroyed in a fire on September 2, 1915.<ref>{{cite web| last=Collins| first=Ron| title=The Story of the Steam Launch "Stella-Marion"| url=http://www.hebronhistsoc.org/Stella_Marion_-_Story.pdf| access-date=6 December 2012}}</ref>
==Lighthouses== Reed Lighthouse, built in 1932, is located on West Shore Road next to the Ledges. Newfound Lighthouse stands at the Paradise Point Lodge on [[New Hampshire Route 3A|Route 3A]] in Bridgewater.<ref>{{cite web| title=Newfound Lake| url=http://www.lakesregion.org/RegionalInfo/OurLakes/NewfoundLake/tabid/184/Default.aspx| publisher=New Hampshire Lakes Region Tourism Association| access-date=6 December 2012| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130107030224/http://lakesregion.org/RegionalInfo/OurLakes/NewfoundLake/tabid/184/Default.aspx| archive-date=7 January 2013}}</ref>
==Lake conservation== The Newfound Lake Region Association (NLRA) was created in 1971 to protect the waters of Newfound Lake and the surrounding land. A total of {{convert|6653|acre}} of land is currently in conservation.<ref>{{cite web| title=History-Education-Conservation-Stewardship| url=http://www.newfoundlake.org/history.html| publisher=Newfound Lake Region Association| access-date=6 December 2012| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228180933/http://www.newfoundlake.org/history.html| archive-date=28 December 2010}}</ref>
==See also== {{portal|New Hampshire}} *[[List of lakes in New Hampshire]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/maps/bathymetry/newfound_bristol.pdf Newfound Lake bathymetric map], NH Fish & Game
{{Merrimack River}}
[[Category:Lakes of Grafton County, New Hampshire]]