CORAM POND

Coram Pond, Photo from Davis-Erhardt Collection

Coram pond in earlier times was called Cornicopia Lake. It was formed by a glacier and is commonly referred to as a kettle hole. Its bottom was 96 feet, which brought it to sea level. It had a thick clay deposit at the bottom. This clay line ran for about a mile in and was used in the making of bricks in the mid-nineteenth century. Coram pond was filled by a swamp that drained south by Winfield Davis Drive, across Middle Country Road, then it ran through the Coram shopping center, across Mill Road and Rte. 112. It went north thru the present United Artists theater parking lot, then over Middle Country Road where the Coram diner stands and north across Rte. 112 down into Coram pond.

Coram pond was a place where stagecoaches carrying mail and passengers could stop and water their horses. The road ran on the north side of the pond. It was also a place where local children would go sleigh-riding from Mt. Tabor, which overlooked the pond. Mt. Tabor was once the site of religious revivals at the turn of the century. In later years it was a popular fishing and ice skating area.

Many area residents have fond memories of the pond. Mr. Edward Hawkins remembers coming down mount Tabor on moonlit nights with his sled and sliding across the pond. In her 1932 autobiography Minnie Davis talked of skating on the frozen pond.

How the pond was destroyed

The Department of Public works had a problem with flooding. They needed a big sump that would drain the storm water underground and when they took a look at Coram Pond it seemed like a perfect spot.

The DPW scooped the clay out of the pond's bottom, clearing trees and widening the hole more than twice the pond's original size.

The Department of Public Works chief engineer for Long Island, Austin Saar, said; "they certainly would have drawn back had someone said that the pond had prime natural value." Saar also said, " we could have found an alternate drain point even though the pond was the most economical solution to our problem." Unfortunately by the time naturalist learned of the plan it had already been completed.

So in the hole where Coram Pond once was located sits dirt and garbage. While at one time it was a place where you could follow the old tracks worn by stagecoaches. Or hear the sounds of laughing children, enjoy a sunset or walk near the flowers and beautiful trees that surrounded the pond. Coram pond is lost to all of us.

Information for this report was compiled by:

Maia Landrum, Monee Rivers,

Danny Stahl, and Michael Ninivaggi

Special thanks to Tommy Lyon who got us important maps and information

AERIAL VIEW OF CORAM POND