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lake chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg

Posted on April 21, 2009

WEBSTER – Officials have agreed to correct spelling errors in road signs pointing to a central Massachusetts lake with a 45-letter name.

Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg in Webster has one of the world’s longest place names. It’s been spelled many different ways over the years. Some locals have given up and simply call it Lake Webster.

But after researching historical spelling combinations, the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester said local Chamber of Commerce officials agreed that some signs were wrong. There was an “o” at letter 20 where a “u” should have been, and an “h” at letter 38 where an “n” should go.

There are many stories and legends about the origin of the Indian name. One popular myth – later debunked – holds that the name translates roughly to ‘You fish on your side, I fish on my side, and nobody fish in the middle.’

That research, from hundreds of resources and Internet searches, found the aforementioned 45-letter version was the most popular.

The second-most popular was the 49-letter Chargoggagoggmanchauggauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, which was how it was spelled on the original signs, according to a photo shown by Ms. Manzi.

The 45-letter version was found in 949 articles and references such as an encyclopedia, Indian Ranch, oldewebster.com, thefreedictionary.com and others. However, a more than 100-year-old survey map uses one less g at the end of the name, Mr. Cazeault said.

The 49-letter version was found in 382 articles. All other spellings were found in fewer than 100 sources, he said.

Mr. Cazeault said after all the research was done, “People said, ‘I don’t care what your investigation said. It’s still wrong.’ So this is an unbelievable situation, but there’s so much history on those signs.”

Author Paul J. Macek of Webster said the version with 45 letters, including 15 g’s, is accurate.

Mr. Macek devotes an entire chapter to the lake in his 2000 book “Early History of Webster, Dudley and Oxford.” A history and English teacher at St. Peter-Marian Central Catholic Junior-Senior High School in Worcester, Mr. Macek said he talks about the lake all the time with students.

The signs near the Thompson line sit right outside the home of Theresa A. Robinson, who said many people stop to look or take pictures. Ms. Robinson said she had no idea it was misspelled.

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