A View of Assawompsett, 1902

Taken by amateur photographer George Dorr of Middleborough in 1902, the above view depicts Lake Assawompsett and a portion of Bedford Street as seen from near King Philip's Lookout close to Highland Road. Clearly visible is the City of Taunton's pumping station with its towering smokestack, now the home of the Lakeville town offices. Opposite is the city's intake house connected to the shore of the lake by a stone rip-rap causeway. Just to the right of the pumping station, the house with darkly-painted trim is Walter B. Parkhurst's Lakeside House, a "country hostelry". For years Parkhurst conducted the Lakeside House "entertaining Boston, New Bedford and Taunton sportsmen, who came down for the fine fishing" on the lake. Shortly after the photograph was taken, Parkhurst's heirs sold the property which was later operated as Linden Lodge before being demolished in the 1970s. The agricultural nature of the neighborhood is reflected in the fact that it is largely devoid of tree cover, and farms on the west side of Main street on the far shore of the lake are clearly discernible. Faintly visible upon the horizon at the far right are the steeples and towers of the Central Congregational Church, Town Hall and Central Baptist Church in Middleborough, as well as the Forest Street standpipe just to the right of center on the skyline.

Illustration:
"Taunton Pumping Station and Assawomset Lake", George D. Dorr, photographer, photographic print, 1902