Sunset Lake History

Common folklore is that the Ells family first coined the Sunset Lake name to attract people from the Boston suburbs to rent or buy their "Sunset Lake Cottages" in the late 1920's. It does have a better ring to it than "Wash Pond Cottages", doesn't it? Supporting this story, the first known property deed reference to Sunset Lake was by Ells in June 1928, while all of their previous deeds from 1926-1928 referenced Wash Pond.

However, these 3 newspaper articles show that the Sunset Lake name was used as early as 1889. The Hawthorne Lodge in the 1889 article is today's 111 Emerson Avenue and was owned by Alfred P. Emerson. Brickett's Grove in the 1902 article was on the lake at the end of Timberlane Road and was the site of Hampstead's 100th Anniversary in 1849 and 150th Anniversary in 1899. The farm referenced in the 1915 article is today's 87 Main Street,was originally called Lakeview when built in 1889, and owned 8 acres from Main Street all the way down to the lake when sold in 1915.