Lake Hitchock By Noreen Cooper

During the last glacial retreat, about 18-14,000 years ago, melt water from the retreating glacier dumped large volumes of sand and gravel in the Rocky Hill, CT area and created a dam.  As the glacier receded (melted), water that had been trapped behind the dam formed Lake Hitchcock. Lake Hitchcock, named after American geologist Edward Hitchcock (1793 - 1864), existed for about 4,100 years.  At its longest it stretched from the moraine dam to West Burke, Vermont - 250 miles long and up to 20 miles wide.

Land in the valley had been pressed downward during the ice age and the lake flooded into low lying lands creating natural terraces that reflect the lake's boundries.  Streams brought in large amounts of sand and gravel creating the gravel pits that are evidence of a stream's location along the lake.

Eventually the 3 mile deep dam broke and the lake waters drained south creating the modern Connecticut River valley.  The end of the lake probably occurred in three stages since delta building streams had partitioned Lake Hitchcock into a series of lakes.

-Noreen Cooper is a long time educator at Vernon Elementary school who is well known among her colleagues as someone who has a keen eye and interest in photographing insects.

Terraces at the Miller (Stonybrook) farm on 142 - photograph by Norma Manning

Gravel pit behind the Miller farm on Franklin hill - photograph by Norma Manning