Nassau Lake, NY

Nassau Lake is a Rensselaer County census-designated place spread across the towns of Nassau and Schodack, surrounding the reservoir that gives it its name. The water was once Hoag's Pond: Jonathan Hoag settled nearby in 1792 and dammed a beaver meadow, creating the lake's earlier form. Rosecrans Park, Braeside, and Morey Park sit around the shoreline, while the village of Nassau lies just to the south. Nassau Lake is an eastern New York place whose map is really a lake, a dam, and three hamlets.