Lake chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg

Lake Chaubunagungamaug also known as Lake Webster -is a lake in the town of Webster, Massachusetts, United States. It is located near the Connecticut border and has a surface area of 1,442 acres 5.83 km². The full name of the Lake chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg is the longest place name in the US - it consists of 45 letters, 15 of which are "g" and 9 - "a" and pronounced as Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg. Isn't it a very strange name and who could only think of calling it that? At first glance, this name seems to consist of a random set of letters, but this is not entirely true.

Webster Lake

The name of the lake was not always so long, initially, it was shorter and was called - lake Chaubunagungamaug (English Chaubunagungamaug). This word in the language of the ancient Indians who inhabited these lands is listed from Nipmuc, an Algonquian language "a place for fishing on the border." It can be assumed that two different tribes lived on two different shores of the lake, who fought for the right to fish in it, but whether this was really so, no one knows.

Longest lake name

But after some time the Webster lake Massachusetts was given a new name and it began to be called - Chargoggagoggmanchauggagogg (Chargogaggoggmanchoggagogg), but apparently strange Indians this became not enough and the two names were decided to combine into one, after which the lake received its such unpronounceable longest lake name - Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg

Not only has it become the longest lake name in the world, which even local old-timers are unable to pronounce, but it still did not lose its meaning, so presumably (it is still not known for certain) this strange name translates as “You fish on my side, I fish on mine, and no one is fishing in the middle. " Because of its long name, the inhabitants of Webster call Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg after their own, simply Webster Lake.

The lake is no different from other lakes. The total area of the lake is 5.83 square kilometers and is the second-largest freshwater body in Massachusetts. There are several islands in the middle of the lake - some of them are inhabited and electrified, and one of the islands has two restaurants.

Three Webster lake song about the lake's name have been written. The first was a regional lake Webster song from the 1930s. The second lake chaubunagungamaug song was recorded by Ethel Merman and Ray Bolger and released in 1954 by Decca and incorporates the tale about the lake's name according to Daly. The most recent was released in 2010 by Diane Taraz. In the 1950s, a plan to shorten the official name of the lake inspired a poem of doggerel verse which concludes:

"Touch not a g!" No impious hand

Shall wrest one from that noble name

Fifteen in all their glory stand

And ever shall the same.

For never shall that number down,

Tho Gogg and Magogg shout and thunder;

Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg's renown

Shall blaze, the beacon of the town,

While nations gaze and wonder.

First Image source Joe Schumacher

Image source 6SN7

Formed lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg during the retreat of the glacier, and is constantly updated thanks to an underground source that is under it. The lake consists of three parts, connected by narrow channels: the North Pond, the Middle Pond, and the South Pond. A hydroelectric power station is located at the junction of the lake with the French River. On the lake, you can often meet fishing locals, for whom this lake is a resting place. It is also a lure for tourists who, having seen such a long name, cannot pass by, and some come here especially to look at it.

Although many residents of Webster call Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg simply Lake Webster, some are proud to be able to pronounce the entire Indian name of the lake. But it is so heavy that in April 2009, errors were even found on information and road signs with the name of the lake.