Welcome to Runaway Pond, a place with a rather unexpected past! Located in Glover, Vermont, this site is home to a fascinating story of human error and natural consequence that dates back to the early 19th century. The tale of Runaway Pond begins with a group of industrious settlers in 1810. At that time, a gristmill operated by Spencer Chamberlain and his brother served as a vital resource for the local community, grinding grain into flour. However, the mill faced a significant problem: there simply wasn’t enough water to power it consistently. In a bold move to solve this issue, the Chamberlains and other townspeople decided to dig a channel to reroute water from nearby Long Pond.
On June 6, 1810, the project took a dramatic turn. As the workers dug, they inadvertently breached the natural dam holding back Long Pond. In an instant, 1.5 billion gallons of water surged through the breach, cascading down the hillside. This catastrophic event drained the entire pond in a matter of hours. The rushing waters carved a new path, forever altering the landscape and leaving behind what is now known as Runaway Pond.
Amazingly, no lives were lost during the incident, but the floodwaters destroyed farmland and infrastructure along their path. The event became a local legend, teaching a valuable lesson in the power of nature and the risks of human intervention without thorough understanding.
Today, Runaway Pond stands as a reminder of this historical mishap. Visitors can still see the dry bed where Long Pond once lay and imagine the torrent of water that forever changed the area. The story of Runaway Pond is a captivating chapter in Vermont’s history, illustrating both the ambition and the unintended consequences of early settlers.
