Video of the Mill River and Lake Massasoit in winter (ca. March 15, 1991)
Description:
This is a video taken of the Mill River system and what is most likely part of Lake Massasoit in Springfield Massachusetts. The video was taken during the winter. Scenes show waterfalls and water moving in the river. There is snow on the ground and in some scenes it is snowing. There is sound, but the sound is mostly background noise . The video is about 21 minutes long. On the case for tape the date of March 15, 1991 is listed. The video starts with colored bars. The tape is listed as "Lake Massasoit #1" and comes from a series of 28 Betacam video tapes that is believed to be raw video that may have been used in the documentary "The Lost River: The story of the Mill River". In 1809, Lake Massasoit was formed by the army by damming the Mill River. The purpose of the dam was to ensure a constant flow of water downstream for the Springfield Armory “Watershops.” The Springfield Armory was America’s first and last National Armory, formed in 1777 and continuing production up until 1968. The formerly named Watershops Pond has 7 miles of shoreline and covers 186 acres. From 1892-1900, the buildings of Springfield College began to come about, and the name was changed to Lake Massasoit by Springfield College officials. The name came from a local hotel, the Massasoit House, owned by Marvin Chapin, a generous benefactor of the college. In 1920, the college purchased a large area of land on the upper end of the pond, and called it the “Freshman Camp.” Since the college was formed, students, faculty and visitors have used the Pond for sailing, swimming, ice skating and fishing. However, the lake was officially closed for swimming in 1984 when the lake was said to be unhealthy. Notes from the digitization technician were as follows: "Set up to bars – raw broll levels vary - possible field dominance problem baked in on original record"
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