Every Lake
Flax Pond
A kettle pond inside Lynn Woods, once the city of Lynn's public water supply.
- 6 ft · first step
- 13 ft
- 19 ft
- 25 ft
- 31 ft
- 38 ft · bottom
About Flax Pond
Flax Pond sits within Lynn Woods Reservation, a large municipal forest near Salem, Massachusetts, and formed as a kettle pond left behind when glacial ice retreated at the end of the last ice age. At roughly 59 acres, its shoreline runs about two miles, longer and more irregular than a round pond of the same size would produce, tracing coves and points along the wooded reservation land that surrounds it. The name is thought to trace back to early colonial settlers who used ponds like this one to soak, or ret, harvested flax stalks before processing them into linen fiber.
For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, Flax Pond served as part of the public water supply for the city of Lynn, and that history shaped the land around it: instead of cottages and private docks, the shoreline stayed forested and undeveloped as reservation property. Today it draws hikers on the surrounding trail network, anglers fishing from the bank, and dog walkers working the loop paths, with no motorized boats and little of the development typical of Massachusetts lake towns. The pond's depth, reaching an estimated 38 feet, is modest for a kettle pond of its footprint but enough to sustain fish populations through the region's cold winters.
- 68 roads engraved around the shore, 18 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.
Flax Pond depth chart, in wood
This is a Flax Pond depth chart you can hang: 6 stacked layers of birch, each one a depth contour — 6 ft, 13 ft, 19 ft, 25 ft, 31 ft and deeper, down to the deepest hole at about 38 ft. The lake covers about 0.1 square miles, and 68 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 Flax Pond 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 Flax Pond 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 Flax Pond.
Flax Pond 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 Flax Pond; the bigger boards carry more shoreline roads and place names.
Is it made from real depth data?
Yes. Flax Pond 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 38 ft
- 0.1 square miles of water
- 68 shore roads engraved, 18 named
- Title block, compass rose and depth markers
- Birch plywood, keyhole hanger, made in Waterford, PA
