'Squam Lake' is a
lake located in central
New Hampshire south of the
White Mountains, straddling the borders of
Grafton,
Carroll, and
Belknap Counties. The largest town on the lake is
Holderness. The lake is located northwest of much larger
Lake Winnipesaukee.
It drains via a short natural channel into
Little Squam Lake, and then through a dam at the head of the short
Squam River into the
Pemigewasset at
Ashland. Covering 6,791 acres (27.5 km²)
[1], Squam is the second-largest lake located entirely in New Hampshire.
Squam Lake was originally called Keeseenunknipee, which meant "the goose lake in the highlands". The white settlers that followed shortened the name to Casumpa, Kusumpy and/or Kesumpe around
1779. In the early
1800s, the lake was given another
Abenaki name, Asquam, which means "water". Finally, in the early
1900s, Asquam was shortened to its present version, Squam.
The
1981 film ''
On Golden Pond'' was filmed on Squam Lake. There are two tour boat outfits on the lake, both based in Holderness, that will show visitors where all the filming locations are situated.
Islands
Squam Lake has 28 named islands and numerous smaller, unnamed islets. The named islands are:
★ Basin Island
★ Birch Island
★ Bowman Island
★ Chocorua (Church) Island
★ Duck Island
★ Great Island
★ Groton Island
★ High Haith
(largest island on Squam; 243 acres)
★ Hoag Island
★ Hubble Island
★ Kate Island
★ Kent Island
★ Kimball Island
★ Laurel Island
★ Little Loon Island
★ Long Island
★ Loon Island
★ Merrill Island
★ Mink Island
★ Mooney Island
★ Mouse Island
★ Otter Island
★ Perch Island
★ Potato Island
★ Sheep Island
★ Three Sisters
★ Utopia Island
★ Yard Island
[2]
References
1. New Hampshire GRANIT database
2. U.S. Board on Geographic Names: Geographic Names Information System