In the late 1950s Lawton Adams, a local real estate developer at the time, started building and selling a series of Cape Cod style homes between Route 116 and Deans Bridge Road. During summer months a number of the new residents to the area started swimming in the rather shallow and narrow Deans Pond. In 1960 a number of those families held a meeting and decided to purchase the approximately 4 acres of land including the pond area from Lawton Adams. Among those early families were the Panzioroni, Schrantz, Fowler, Reynolds and Bob and Jean Reidy. Jean Reidy remembered calling all of the neighbors asking them to pitch in $50 towards the purchase price. The Deans Pond Association was formed as a not-for-profit corporation on August 31, 1960. Early on the pond was dredged to enlarge and deepen the swimming area.

As more homes were built in the neighborhood, more families joined the Deans Pond Association. By the late 1970s membership rose to 30 families. Membership has risen to as high as 50 families in recent years. Over the years the main focus of the Deans Pond Association has been to maintain Deans Pond as a recreational resource for its members and to preserve the peaceful, park-like setting of the pond area. As a result, everyone’s property values have naturally been enhanced in the Deans Bridge area of Somers.