Every Lake
Square Pond
Once called Crystal Lake, until a shoe-mill dam on the Mousam reset its shoreline.
- 9 ft · first step
- 18 ft
- 28 ft
- 37 ft
- 46 ft
- 55 ft · bottom
About Square Pond
Square Pond sits on the line between Shapleigh and Acton in York County, near Portland, Maine. It carried an earlier name, Crystal Lake, before local usage settled on Square Pond. Before 1900 the lake was larger than it is today. The Goodall-Sanford Mills bought the water rights and built a dam, and the mill's need for water lowered the pond's level. What remains is a roughly square basin ringed by cottages and camps, spring-fed, with almost no natural inlet or outlet of its own.
In the 1800s a canal was cut connecting Square Pond to Goose Pond, letting a gate release water downstream into Mousam Lake and the Mousam River when summer ran dry. The arrangement kept the mills running and left Square Pond permanently tied to that river system. Today the pond is known among anglers for brown trout, a fish that needs the kind of cold, clean, spring-fed water Square Pond has always had. Swimmers and boaters share the water with a small, longstanding association of camp owners who've tracked its condition for decades.
- 45 roads engraved around the shore, 5 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.
Square Pond depth chart, in wood
This is a Square Pond depth chart you can hang: 6 stacked layers of birch, each one a depth contour — 9 ft, 18 ft, 28 ft, 37 ft, 46 ft and deeper, down to the deepest hole at about 55 ft. The lake covers about 1.3 square miles, and 45 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 Square 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 Square 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 Square Pond.
Square 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 Square Pond; the bigger boards carry more shoreline roads and place names.
Is it made from real depth data?
Yes. Square 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 55 ft
- 1.3 square miles of water
- 45 shore roads engraved, 5 named
- Title block, compass rose and depth markers
- Birch plywood, keyhole hanger, made in Waterford, PA
