Bakers Pond
East Dennis
Bakers Pond is a 10-acre Great Pond located to the west of Airline Road in East Dennis. Roughly one quarter of the pondshore is protected by the Town of Dennis and the Dennis Water District, with another half of its pondshore being privately owned but currently undeveloped. It has a maximum depth of 19 feet with relatively high water quality.
Access
Bakers Pond can be accessed via the Town-owned Bakers Pond Conservation Area, located at 241 Airline Road in East Dennis.
Status
The 2016 Dennis Ponds Report suggests Bakers Pond is a relatively healthy, clearwater pond. Water clarity averaged 15 feet, making it exceptionally clear compared with many other Dennis ponds. Three other metrics of pond health, including total phosphorous (a limiting nutrient), chlorophyll-a (algae), and dissolved oxygen, indicated the pond is generally healthy. The Pond is not currently being monitored by the Dennis Conservation Land Trust or the Association to Preserve Cape Cod.
Ecology
Information coming soon.
History
An early remark on Bakers Pond is from the 1880s when it was reported that “a large number of persons” from East Dennis and adjoining villages congregated on the shore of Bakers Pond to witness the baptism of six of “Uncle Seth’s” followers.
Cranberry bogs once surrounded the pond.
The pond was stocked with white perch in 1927, and in 1928, reports were made of perch and hornpout (brown bullhead) being caught.
In 1975, the second Dennis master plan recommended the acquisition of over 2,500 acres of land and placed land acquisition for open space and recreation as the third priority. One of the facilities recommended was a new golf course, 18- or nine-hole, in the general area of Baker’s Pond.
In 1977, a special permit allowing 87 homes to be built on 50.5 acres around Bakers Pond was granted by the Dennis Board of Appeals despite a Planning Board recommendation that the number of lots around Bakers Pond be reduced and a Conservation Commission recommendation that no lots be placed around the pond.
In the mid 1980s, the town of Dennis purchased or accepted as a gift several pieces of land in the Bakers Pond area, one of which was a 2.8-acre parcel which provided access to Bakers Pond. Another was a gift from The Nature Conservancy of Washington D.C. which donated one-half acre of land off Airline Road to the town. The parcel abutted 2.5 acres the town had recently taken at Bakers Pond.
