Arcadia Publishing Sandy Pond History Book

Natural beauty, abundant game and a sandy lakeside location: these are the reasons people have come to Sandy Pond for hundreds of years. Sandy Pond's fascinating history includes Native Americans, early entrepreneurs, bootleggers and even a vice president of the United States. Formed by retreating glaciers that carved the landscape, Sandy Pond is located on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario. More a lake than a pond, it is protected from Lake Ontario's wind and waves by a barrier dune system and a sandy beach, with an outlet to that Great Lake. This has made Sandy Pond a safe harbor for vessels during dangerous weather. As far back as 1675, when he marched against the Iroquois, Samuel de Champlain wrote of traveling "over a sandy plain" where he found "a very pleasing and fine country, a number of ponds and prairies, where there was an infinite quantity of game, a great many vines and fine trees." Sandy Pond's natural and man-made treasures continue to make it a year-round destination for nature enthusiasts.