Fitch’s Pond Nature Preserve

History

The developer of Sawyer’s Cove, LLC donated the land surrounding Fitch’s Pond to the WLT in 2016. Although the property was never owned by Dr. and Mrs. Avery Fitch, the pond has long been referred to as “Fitch’s Pond”.

Interestingly however, the property was owned by physicist Frank Aydelotte who lived across the street on Oswegatchie Road. He and his wife were seated beside Albert Einstein in this very famous photo of Einstein sticking his tongue out on his 72^nd birthday. Einstein was know to vacation in the Oswegatchie section of Waterford and sail on the Niantic River. The Fitch’s Pond property was sold to the developer of Sawyers Cove subdivision by Aydelotte’s daughters.

The pond was once a source of ice, harvested in the winter and stored in icehouses for summer use. The pond has been a favorite place for locals to ice skate for years. There are two miles of marked and maintained trails now. New trails and a property sign were completed in 2022. WLT maintains two wood duck boxes at the pond.

Access

Currently, there is no safe place to park on Oswegatchie Rd. The WLT has frontage property on Oswgatchie Rd., and a parking area is being discussed.

Special Thanks

Volunteers: Mike Dunn, Natalie Edwards, Tracey Montoya, Christian Higley and Jeff Gada for clearing trails and removing the maples that had fallen into the pond.

WLT Board members: Brian Florek and Joel Stocker for plotting the trail map with GPS. Board president Dave Lersch for maintaining the wood duck boxes, and Jim Luce for trail clearing.