History of

Orchard Lake

Stoddard Hammond

Creator of Orchard Lake

In securing reliable sources of hemlocks needed for the process of tanning hides, tanners would purchase, or get rights to, large tracts of forested land in the vicinity of their tannery. With the demise of the hemlock forest leading to the cessation of the S. Hammond & Son Tannery at DeBruce, Stoddard Hammond maintained the large parcel at Orchard Lake, and upon erecting a good size cottage, used the property, with his family, as a summer home. This, the family had until 1908 when;  "It is said upon good authority that Stoddard Hammond [Jr.] has sold his Orchard Lake property to New York parties, who will take possession January 1, 1909. The price is said to be $30,000. Mr. Hammond is repairing one of his houses near the acid factory here which he expects to occupy on that date.

"He purchased Mongaup Pond some time ago, which is a beautiful body of water, and has a number of men working there, clearing up around the lake. Rumor says he will erect a handsome cottage there. If there were a few more men like that gentleman in this vicinity, work would be plenty. Austin Decker is his foreman."

Sullivan County Review
December 3, 1908

From The Beaverkill - A History of a River and Its People, Ed Van Put  2002, The Lyons Press, Guilford CT, pp 131-132

During the 1890s, June Smith went on to construct other private trout hatcheries in Sullivan County.  He became a well-known expert in trout propagation, pioneering, at least locally, an industry whose time, it seemed, had come.

In 1894, Smith established the Orchard Lake Hatchery at the headwaters of Sprague Brook, a Willowemoc tributary.  This facility was owned by Stoddard Hammond, a tanner and acid manufacturer, who constructed a dam, creating a forty-acre lake he named the Orchard Lake Trout Preserve.

In 1911, the Hammond family sold the lake to a group of New York City sportsmen, who became known as the Orchard Lake Club.  With a hatchery located on the premises to ensure a constant supply of trout, it was not long before Orchard Lake developed a reputation as a fine producer, especially of large brook trout.  In 1915, one club member even captured the Forest and Stream contest prize for catching the largest trout on a fly.

Membership was about fifty, and while the lake's excellent fishing was the main attraction, another important activity was the club's clay pigeon shooting.  In time, Orchard Lake Club amassed two thousand acres and changed its name to the Trout and Skeet Club of New York.  In 1955, after a span covering more than forty years, ownership of Orchard Lake, too, passed on to the Nassau County Council of Boy Scouts.

Looking north to the Parade Field/Manor House site                Looking toward the dam

From the Parade Field - a fall view