Paleolimnological techniques were used at Linsley Pond, North Branford, Connecticut, USA to compare changes in the biota with changes in watershed land use as documented by municipal land records. Fossil diatoms, midges, zooplankton, and chemical composition were examined in a core 238 cm long, which was dated by(210)Pb,(14)C, and changes in fossil pollen assemblages. The beginning of farming in 1700 caused only minor changes in the lake biota. In 1915 changes in agricultural activity at a nearby farm caused a rapid shift to eutrophic diatom and midge assemblages. In 1960 major changes occurred in the zooplankton community in response to the hypereutrophication caused by the construction of a suburban housing development. Fluxes of Fe, Mn, Ca, Cu, and P to the lake sediment seem to be controlled by changes in soil erosion–not by changes in the trophic status of the lake.