Springfield's Watershops Pond was created in 1809 by damming The Mill River approximately 1.5 miles from where it enters The Connecticut River. The Dam created a Mill Pond/Lake that insured a consistent source of power.

The site is located about one mile south of the main Armory and Hill Shops that were constructed on high elevation.

The Water Shops were constructed in the late 1850s and expanded in 1901. (The Water Shops are now private property and appear to be sadly deteriorated).

The Water Shops are where our Krag and 'Trapdoor' barrels were made & proofed and the receiver drop-forgings were produced, prior to 'going up the hill' for machining and completion.

The government property, down stream from the Water Shops, was sold during the 1850s and Mill River was utilized by textile mills.

In the 1890s, The International YMCA Training School, (later to be named Springfield College), developed a campus on part of Watershops Pond and renamed the body of water "Lake Massasoit".

Some 1898 era pictures of Lake Massasoit and recent pictures of the Dam spillway and conduit at the Water Shops.