The early decades of the 20th century saw the rise of a summer residential community at Lost Lake/Knops Pond. This 200 acre water resource offered city dwellers relief from the heat and humidity and a wide range of recreational activities. A real estate scheme in the 1920s hastened these changes. People came from Boston, Revere, Somerville, Brookline, Newton, Cambridge, and Watertown to name a few. The earliest photos of the lakes come from post cards dated 1916!

In a bid to raise revenue for a failing business, the company that owned the water rights to Lost Lake lowered the water level during the height of the summer season. This occurred in the depths of the Great Depression of the 1930s. It forced the few owners of lakefront  properties to consider buying the water rights to control the lake level. Two families controlled 90% of the shares in the corporation that was created. Ten per cent of the shares were owned by other summer residents who could afford to buy in.