Every Lake
Converse Lake
Seventy-two acres of drinking water behind a dam in North Stamford.
- 8 ft · first step
- 17 ft
- 25 ft
- 34 ft
- 42 ft
- 51 ft · bottom
About Converse Lake
Converse Lake sits in North Stamford, Connecticut, near the New York border, held back by a dam that turned a stretch of local stream into a public water supply reservoir. It is owned and managed by a regional water utility rather than a town, which has kept development off its banks and its water closed to general recreation. The surrounding land is wooded upland typical of northern Fairfield County, a quiet contrast to the dense suburbs a few miles south toward the city of Stamford itself.
Because it functions as drinking-water infrastructure, Converse Lake has stayed mostly out of public use — no public boat launch, no lakefront subdivisions, limited or permit-based fishing access depending on the utility's rules in a given year. The people who know it best tend to be water company staff, watershed patrol, and the anglers and hikers who apply for access to the surrounding buffer land. Its value has always been utilitarian first: a shape and depth engineered to hold a reserve of water for a growing Connecticut suburb, not to draw crowds to its shore.
- 10 roads engraved around the shore, 0 of them labeled
- 6 depth layers, each step engraved with its depth in feet
- Compass rose, title block with coordinates, max depth and area; keyhole hanger on the back
Turn it in your hands
Live 3D of the actual cut files — drag to orbit, pinch to zoom. Every road you see is engraved on the real thing.
Viewer not showing? Open it full screen.
Converse Lake depth chart, in wood
This is a Converse Lake depth chart you can hang: 6 stacked layers of birch, each one a depth contour — 8 ft, 17 ft, 25 ft, 34 ft, 42 ft and deeper, down to the deepest hole at about 51 ft. The lake covers about 0.1 square miles, and 10 shore roads are engraved around it. The shape of the bottom is the real one from published soundings, so anglers recognise their drop-offs and points.
A Converse Lake map for the wall — or a gift
Most of these go to a cabin wall, a lake house entry, or a home office; a lot are gifts — the family that has been on Converse Lake for three generations, the retirement move, the first boat. The 12-inch is the desk-and-shelf size; the 24- and 30-inch boards read across a room. Add a line under the title and star your place on the shore, and it becomes the map of your Converse Lake.
Converse Lake map — the details
How big is the map?
Four sizes: 12, 17, 24 and 30 inches on the long side, from $149. Every size is cut from the same depth data of Converse Lake; the bigger boards carry more shoreline roads and place names.
Is it made from real depth data?
Yes. Converse Lake is cut layer by layer from published bathymetric soundings — each layer of birch is a depth contour, so the shape of the bottom is the real one, not decorative.
Can I add my own place on it?
Yes. At checkout you can add a line under the title (a family name, a cabin name, a year) and star the spot on the shore that matters to you.
How long does it take?
Made to order in Waterford, Pennsylvania and shipped in 7–10 days; shipping is free in the lower 48.
Can you make a lake that isn't listed?
Any lake in the United States — we hold depth data for 104,419 of them. Search for yours; if it isn't built yet we build it when you order.
- 6 depth layers down to 51 ft
- 0.1 square miles of water
- 10 shore roads engraved
- Title block, compass rose and depth markers
- Birch plywood, keyhole hanger, made in Waterford, PA
