Depot Pond

The Batavia Depot Pond is apart of the Batavia Riverwalk. This pond is home to some of Batavia’s favorite traditions, including ice skating and fishing!

The Depot Pond didn’t always look the way it does now. At one time, the entire area, including the Batavia Depot Museum, Walgreens and McDonalds, was a channel of the Fox River. That’s how Island Avenue got its name and the tradition of ice skating began.

Back in the 40s and 50s, skaters would stay warm by building fires in metal trash bins. It wasn’t until the Batavia Depot Museum was moved to its current location on the Riverwalk that skaters had an official warming house. The basement of the Museum was used as a warming house from 1975 until 1990 when it was converted into exhibit space.

During the winter of 1957, an artist from Nebraska named John Falter was visiting his sister in the Fox Valley area. He came across skaters on the pond and decided to sketch it. He thought it was a whimsical scene and would fit in with his painting-style which was similar to Norman Rockwell. Falter completed a painting of his sketch and submitted it to the Saturday Evening Post, a widely popular magazine with a nationwide reach. In January 1958, the painting of skaters on the pond appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post and the original is on permanent display at the Depot Museum.