Aunt Polly's Wash Tub

{{Short description|Lake in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, United States}}

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| name = Aunt Polly’s Wash Tub

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| other_name = Soft Water Lake

| image = Aunt Polly’s Wash Tub Panorama 2.jpg

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| location = Wisconsin

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| coordinates = {{coord|43|5|5.1486|N|88|27|49.3294|W|region:US_type:waterbody|display =inline,title}}

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| cities = Oconomowoc, formerly Summit

| pushpin_map = Wisconsin

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Aunt Polly’s Wash Tub is a lake in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. It is the only lake in the area that has soft water.{{cite book |title=The History of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development, and Resources |date=1880 |publisher=Western Historical Company |page=728 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vQ4rAQAAMAAJ&dq=Aunt+Polly%E2%80%99s+wash+tub&pg=PA728 |access-date=16 February 2023 |language=en |oclc=6873365}}

It was previously called Soft Water Lake{{cite book |last1=Juday |first1=Chancey |title=The Inland Lakes of Wisconsin: The Hydrogeography and Morphometry of the Lakes |date=1914 |publisher=State of Wisconsin |location=Madison, WI |page=Map xiv |language=en |oclc=3648367 |chapter=IV Oconomowoc–Waukesha Lakes |series=Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey Scientific Series |volume=9 |others=Edward A. Birge, Director}} until it was named for Polly Gage (1805–1882){{cite news |title=Died. |access-date=18 March 2023 |work=The Weekly Wisconsin |date=March 15, 1882 |location=Milwaukee, Wisconsin |url=https://newscomwc.newspapers.com/clip/121122660/died-mrs-polly-gage/ |language=en |quote=Mrs. Polly Gage, of Nashotah, aged 76 years, fell asleep at St. John’s Church Home, in this city, on Friday evening.}} who lived on the lake and took advantage of the water’s softness for the laundry of the Nashotah Mission.{{cite book |last1=Barquist |first1=Barbara |last2=Barquist |first2=David |title=Oconomowoc barons to bootleggers |date=1999 |isbn=9780967517902 |pages=60–61 |publisher=Barbara and David Barquist |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RIcvAQAAMAAJ |access-date=16 February 2023 |language=en}} Gage lived there until 1880 when the property was foreclosed.{{cite news |last1=Stevens |first1=John |last2=Thompson |first2=E. D. K. |title=Sheriff's Sale. |url=https://newscomwc.newspapers.com/clip/121121883/sheriffs-sale/ |access-date=18 March 2023 |work=Waukesha Daily Freeman |date=19 May 1881 |page=8 |language=en}} The family of Laura Tallmadge (1842–1879) also lived on the lake.

The area once was called “Pabst Swamp Preserve”. After the Gages left, the son of Frederick Pabst, {{ill|Fred Pabst, jr.|qid=Q94817218}}, purchased the land around the lake for Pabst Farms, and farm employees would ice skate on the lake in winter.{{cite book |last1=Eastberg |first1=John C. |title=Pabst Farms: The History of a Model Farm |publisher=Pabst Farms, Inc. |isbn=978-09823810-2-1 |page=167 |language=en |chapter=Three: A Model Farm|year=2014 }}

The lake is now in {{ill|Chapman Park|qid=Q116908980}}, which was named for former city attorney Bill Chapman.{{cite news |title=Chapman Park Dedicated in Honor of Former City Attorney |url=https://www.oconomowoc-wi.gov/DocumentCenter/View/8308/2020-Spring-Summer-Newsletter |access-date=17 February 2023 |work=City of Oconomowoc Newsletter |publisher=City of Oconomowoc |date=Spring–Summer 2020 |location=Oconomowoc, WI |page=4 |language=en}}

The lake was once stocked with German carp and bullfrogs. Fred Pabst, Jr. later stocked it with goldfish.