Every Lake
Stiles Reservoir
An earthen dam built in 1865 to power Leicester's mills, not to create a lake.
- 8 ft · first step
- 15 ft
- 23 ft
- 30 ft
- 38 ft
- 45 ft · bottom
About Stiles Reservoir
Stiles Reservoir sits in Leicester, Massachusetts, a few miles southwest of Worcester. The reservoir was formed in 1865, when an earthen dam roughly 500 feet long was built across a stream to hold back water for the town's mills. The dam eventually reached a height of about 29 feet and impounded roughly 3,100 acre-feet of water. Before the dam, the site was a smaller natural waterway; afterward, it became one of the larger impoundments in this part of Worcester County, feeding mill operations downstream through the late nineteenth century.
The dam's age has caused problems since the early 1900s, with seepage issues prompting authorities to keep reservoir levels lowered for long stretches. A 1955 hurricane caused a partial failure, and engineers braced the structure with additional buttressing afterward. In 2016, the Stiles Lake Watershed District hired Pare Corporation to rehabilitate the 150-year-old dam and bring it into compliance with current safety regulations. Today the reservoir lies within Leicester, with homes and camps along its shoreline; it draws bass anglers and paddlers rather than mill operators, though the earthwork that created it a century and a half ago still holds the water back.
- 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.
Stiles Reservoir depth chart, in wood
This is a Stiles Reservoir depth chart you can hang: 6 stacked layers of birch, each one a depth contour — 8 ft, 15 ft, 23 ft, 30 ft, 38 ft and deeper, down to the deepest hole at about 45 ft. The lake covers about 0.6 square miles. The shape of the bottom is the real one from published soundings, so anglers recognise their drop-offs and points.
A Stiles Reservoir 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 Stiles Reservoir 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 Stiles Reservoir.
Stiles Reservoir 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 Stiles Reservoir; the bigger boards carry more shoreline roads and place names.
Is it made from real depth data?
Yes. Stiles Reservoir 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 45 ft
- 0.6 square miles of water
- Title block, compass rose and depth markers
- Birch plywood, keyhole hanger, made in Waterford, PA
