Runaway Pond

Way up north in Vermont, in the territory known as the Northeast Kingdom, there was a man-made disaster 200 years ago.

Citizens of Glover, Vermont caused a natural dam to break, and created a huge flood whose waters reached 20 miles north to the Canadian border.

The site, called Runaway Pond, is now a placid meadow, as the pond is no more.

An important old Vermont map – published the very same year as the disaster – is excerpted below.

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A new edition of the Whitelaw map of Vermont was issued the same year as the flood (1810) , so the entry has the feel of a breaking news story.

“This Pond was the source of the Lamoelle River June 6, 1810 when it broke its northern bounds…”

This map shows the pond’s pre-flood shape and the northerly stream which leads to the Barton River and drains into Lake Memphremagog.

The prior map is seen below – note the differences in the stream’s engraving.

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The original Whitelaw map, 1796, shows the pond along the Glover/Greensboro Town Line, and the stream heading south which eventually drains into Lake Champlain.

The northerly stream is not connected to Runaway Pond on this 1796 map.