In Episode 380 Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger check out the shores of Indian Lake in Worcester, Massachusetts. Back in 1904, a strange creature was witnessed in the water. It was described as the size of a large dog with wings and scaly tail. This beast may have also been spotted on land nearby. The newspapers called this terrorizing beast the What-Is-It.
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CREDITS:
Produced and hosted by: Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger
Edited by: Ray Auger
Guest Voice Actor: Lisa Strykowski
Theme Music by: John Judd
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
*A note on the text: Please forgive punctuation, spelling, and grammar mistakes. Like us, the transcripts ain’t perfect.
[DRIVING IN CAR]
JEFF: Okay, we’re going to follow this road to the end.
RAY: Got it. We’re driving parallel to Interstate 190 right now.
JEFF: We are. We’re just a bit northwest from the heart of Worcester, Massachusetts. (BEAT) Okay, follow this road to the end… it’s a dead end.
RAY: I don’t like the way you said “dead” there Jeff.
JEFF: I know. I guess I can’t help but feel a little ominous. Okay, we can stop here at the end of the road.
[CAR STOPS]
[DOORS OPEN/CLOSE]
RAY: Okay we’re standing near the edge of Indian Lake in Worcester.
JEFF: We are. And keep your eyes focused on the water, Ray. Because we’ve come to Indian Lake… to search for a monster.
[INTRO]
JEFF: Hello, I’m Jeff Belanger and welcome to Episode 380 of the New England Legends podcast.
RAY: And I’m Ray Auger, thanks for joining us on our mission to chronicle every legend in New England one story at a time. We’re always on the hunt for monsters, ghosts, UFOs, roadside oddities, strange history, and anything else that bumps in the night. Did you know most of our story leads come from you? This one did! Thanks to Lauren Middleton for the tip.
JEFF: We also want to remind you that our annual charity Zombie Prom is coming up Saturday, February 22nd in Milford, Massachusetts. All proceeds go to benefit Community Harvest Project. You can find a link for more info and to buy tickets in the episode description or on our website.
RAY: We’ll go searching for this lake monster right after this word from our sponsor.
SPONSOR
RAY: A lake monster in the city of Worcester?
JEFF: That’s what they say. And if a lake monster isn’t scary enough, this monster may have also lurked on land too. And there were enough sightings that it made the newspaper back in 1904.
RAY: Here’s a little more background on Indian Lake. Indian Lake, also known as North Pond, is located in the northern part of Worcester. It’s 15 feet at its deepest point, it’s about 240 acres in size, and it was a major source for water and mill power for Worcester in the 1800s. In 1828 a dam was built at the outlet to the pond that increased the size of the pond… or lake, depending on who you ask… making North Pond part of the reservoir system that fed the Blackstone Canal. The canal didn’t last long because the railroad became the preferred way to move goods and people. North Pond was also used for ice harvesting in the mid-1800s.
JEFF: By the late 1800s and into the early 1900s, the lake became most commonly used for recreation. Many houses were built around the lake at the turn of the century. More people swimming in the lake meant more people watching the water.
RAY: To find out what happened, let’s head back to 1904 and look for this monster.
[TRANSITION]
RAY: It’s early August of 1904 here in Worcester, Massachusetts. It’s a hot summer day. A great day to be by the shores of a lake—a lake only recently renamed from North Pond to Indian lake.
JEFF: No matter what you call it, it is a nice spot. The view around the lake is changing, too. For years this body of water help drive commerce, waterwheels for factories, and the Blackstone Canal, but as times changed, as rail lines are laid down all across the state and the country, and as the automobile looks like it’s poised to go wide-spread, Indian Lake is becoming an ideal place for homes and parks.
RAY: Who wouldn’t want to live by a gorgeous lake?
JEFF: Someone who’s afraid of monster for one.
RAY: What do you mean?
JEFF: Lately there’s been talk of a strange creature on these waters unlike anything anyone has ever seen before.
[WOMAN SCREAMS IN THE DISTANCE]
JEFF/RAY: What was that?!
JEFF: I think it was coming from this direction.
[RUNNING]
JEFF: It’s Mrs. Boyd. She’s pointing at the water!
RAY: What IS that?
[SPLAHING SOUND IN THE DISTANCE]
JEFF: There’s some kind of creature racing away from us in the lake. At first it looked like it was swimming—almost gliding on top of the water.
RAY: But then it looked like it was diving almost like a dolphin.
JEFF: But it also looked like it was flying just above the surface of the water before it disappeared.
RAY: I didn’t get the best look at this thing, but Mrs. Boyd did. What did you see?
MRS. BOYD: Imagine a big Newfoundland dog with heavy black whiskers, with wings like those of a vulture and a tail like a great sea serpent, and you will have a good idea of what the thing looked like. I was standing on the shore at the time it appeared.
It had flaming red eyes and a cruel, wicked looking face. It struck me at first that it might be a sea serpent, but I never heard of a sea monster that had wings before. I could not see much of the tail of the creature, except that it was long and slimy.
The thing resembled something like the mermaids you see in a circus. The stubby wings which the thing flapped incessantly was the strangest thing about it.
It churned them up and down on the water very fast, and ploughed through the water angrily as it noticed that it was being watched. It did not attempt to lift itself out of the water and fly. It was content to move along in the water and disappear in the cove. I never took any stock in sea serpents or water monsters, but there is certainly something that cannot be explained about this creature.
JEFF: I just spoke to a neighbor of Mrs. Boyd who also saw the creature. 16 year-old Marjory Hallden. She said it was a horrid looking thing. She said it scared her almost to death. She said she’d never seen a dog with wings before.
RAY: Mrs. Boyd is considered a practical woman by her neighbors and friends. She’s not one to make up stories. Without another name to give it, the newspapers label this Indian Lake creature a What-Is-It.
JEFF: What-is-It is a term that’s been around for a long time. It’s really the perfect term, if you think about it.
RAY: Well yeah, what. Is. It?
JEFF: I have no idea, but the community is buzzing. And it may be related to another strange incident that occurred nearby on land.
[WALKING]
JEFF: Let’s take a walk.
RAY: Where are we heading?
JEFF: Just a few blocks from here to a poolroom at Barber’s Crossing.
[WALKING]
JEFF: Let’s head inside.
[DOOR OPENS / CLOSES]
RAY: Think we have time to shoot a little eight ball?
[POOL BALLS BREAKING]
JEFF: Loser buys the beer!
RAY: Deal.
JEFF: The main reason we’re here is because we’re looking for the proprietor, William Henry Leavitt. I think that’s him over there. You rack ‘em up, I’ll go talk to him.
[POOL BALLS / SHOT / BREAKING]
JEFF: So, Mr. Leavitt told me last Thursday night he was standing in his doorway on West Boylston Street when a large animal startled him. He said it looked like a big Newfoundland dog, but then it climbed up a telephone pole right near where he was standing, and then crawled down head-first. That’s when he knew it was no dog. He thought maybe it was a bear.
RAY: Bears aren’t impossible around here, but they don’t usually come to this part of town. It’s too many people. Too busy.
JEFF: Mr. Leavitt said he locked himself in the poolhall and barricaded the door until this bear left. He said when it came down the pole it ran off in the direction of Indian Lake. He said he got a good look at the animal. He said it had two red, bloodshot eyes.
RAY: Did Mr. Leavitt see the wings or the scaly tail?
JEFF: He did not. He thought it was some kind of bear, and that was enough to scare him.
RAY: I just heard that Mr. Conrad who owns the restaurant across the street said he also saw some strange animal Thursday night but didn’t get as good a look at it like Mr. Leavitt did.
JEFF: What-is-it?
RAY: What-is-it. That’s what everyone wants to know.
JEFF: Let’s head back out to the lake.
[DOOR CLOSES]
[WALKING]
JEFF: Wait… lemme grab a newspaper here on the corner from the kid. (AWAY FROM MIC) Thank you!
RAY: Wow. Looks like the What-Is-It made the front page!
JEFF: It sure has! This is the Wednesday, August 3, 1904, Worcester Daily Telegram. Go ahead and give the headlines a read, Ray.
[PAPER SHUFFLING]
RAY: It says: Sea Serpent After Women and Girls. Strange creature with wings and horrid, bloodshot eyes. Does its stunts in the daylight on surface of Indian Lake. What-is-It takes all nerve out of the Greendale people.
JEFF: Greendale is the neighborhood in Worcester near the lake. From those headlines you’d think there’s some serious danger here, wouldn’t you?
RAY: Yeah. I guess they know how to sell a newspaper.
JEFF: Still, this strange creature, whatever it is, has caused a stir, and locals are looking for answers. Some are suggesting a scientific study of the lake to try and figure out what this creature is. Because people want to know: What. Is. It? And that brings us back to today.
[TRANSITION]
JEFF: I miss the old term, What-Is-It. I’ve also heard it as the shortened: Whatsit.
RAY: It’s kind of like the term UFO, isn’t it?
JEFF: What do you mean?
RAY: Unidentified Flying Object. You might jump to certain conclusions with that term, but no one is specifically saying machines from another world. With a Whatsit, same thing. Could be some deranged creature or escaped circus animal.
JEFF: I guess it could be. The thing about this story is that the creature showed up shortly after the name of the body of water was changed from North Pond to Indian Lake. Whether the sightings have anything to do with the name change is anyone’s guess, but the newspaper article speculated maybe the creature was angry at the name change.
RAY: So we’re supposed to believe this mammal-looking creature, which can also potentially fly, and lives in the water with a scaly tail, can also READ?!
JEFF: We can’t help but make connections, I guess. What I love about this article is that they quoted four different people who all live and work within a few blocks of each other. The article names names. If you were local back then, these were your neighbors. You wouldn’t call them names or doubt their word. They saw something, they reported it.
RAY: I can’t stress enough how small Indian Lake is. In fact, it’s so small it used to be called a pond.
JEFF: Right. Where would a creature like the one described hide?
RAY: Plus, today, almost every bit of land around this lake is filled with homes, plus a few public parks. At only 15 feet deep, there would be nowhere for this creature to hide.
JEFF: It could be that this strange beast passed through back in 1904 and wasn’t seen again. The story sort of dies off after the news coverage. But it’s enough that when you’ve heard the tale, you can’t help but gaze out at the lake and ask yourself if today is the day… the What-Is-It returns.
[OUTTRO]
RAY: You never know. And that takes us to After the Legend where we take a deeper dive into this week’s story and sometimes veer off course.
JEFF: After the Legend is brought to you by our Patreon patrons! We can’t thank them enough. They are the backbone of everything we do. They help us out with our production costs, our marketing, web hosting, travel, and everything else that we do. We can’t bring you two episodes each week without them. It’s just $3 bucks per month and for that they get early ad-free access to new episodes, plus bonus episodes and content that no one else gets to hear. Please help us by going to patreon.com/newenglandlegends and signing up. You can also click our patreon link in the episode description.
To see some pictures of Indian Lake you can click on the link in our episode description or go to our website and click on Episode 380.
Don’t forget our annual Zombie Prom is coming up Saturday, February 22nd at the Double Tree Hotel in Milford, Massachusetts. Tickets are on sale now. And be sure to subscribe to our podcast! It’s free wherever you get your podcasts. Please also post a review for us, and tell a friend or two about our show. That’s how we grow. We appreciate being part of this community with you.
We’d like to thank Lisa Strykowski for lending her voice acting talents this week, thank you to our sponsors, our patreon patrons, and our theme music is by John Judd.
Until next time remember… the bizarre is closer than you think!
