John E's Pond or John E's Tug Hole is a pond on Block Island in Washington County, Rhode Island.[1]
| John E's Pond | |
|---|---|
| John E's Tug Hole | |
  John E's Pond | |
| Location | Washington County, Rhode Island |
| Coordinates | 41°09′21″N 71°33′35″W / 41.1558408°N 71.5597239°W |
| Type | Lake |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface elevation | 46 metres (151 ft) |
The land around the pond is partially conserved by The Nature Conservancy and by the Block Island Land Trust. The pond is part of a larger network of wet bogs. Historically, it was seasonally dammed to facilitate the harvest of peat and ice.[2]
John E's Pond is used recreationally for swimming, fishing, and boating. It is habitat for birds like the northern harrier, and woody shrubs such as sweet pepperbush are common around the margins.[2]
Etymology
editJohn E's Pond is notable for being one of five American federally-recognized place names with a possessive apostrophe. When the name was officialized in 1963, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names allowed the apostrophe to prevent the name from being read as John "Ess" Pond.[3]
The word tug in the term tug hole archaically means peat, which was the main source of fuel on Block Island for early settlers. Tug hole is a local term for ponds that were used for harvesting peat (known colloquially as tugging).[2]
References
edit- ^ "Summary Report: John E's Pond". edits.nationalmap.gov. Geographic Names Information System. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
- ^ a b c Gaffett, Kim (3 March 2021). "John E's Tug Hole: Explore Block Island". YouTube. The Nature Conservancy in Rhode Island. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
- ^ Brean, Henry (6 February 2018). "Obscure federal rule erased apostrophes from place names". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 14 August 2024.