Mountain Lakes has features and sites that have substantial historic significance. The purpose of this Historic Preservation Plan element is to examine those historically significant features and sites and to help reestablish a consensus in the community on how they should be protected and preserved. It is a central premise of this plan that these features and sites are central to the character of the Borough and that they are important to the maintenance of property values and the Borough's unique sense of place. Much of the substance, as well as the specific text of this element is taken from the recommendations and writings of the Borough Historian, Mr. John Steen.
The following are the major events and significant issues relating to Historic Preservation in Mountain Lakes leading up to and taken into account in the formulation of this plan.
The following are the major historic preservation-related objectives that should be pursued by Borough officials and should be reflected in Borough policies.
1 Two sources are the basis of this section and are freely excerpted from: This is Mountain Lakes, published by the League of Women Voters of Mountain Lakes, 1989. and Mountain Lakes Residential Park, by John Steen.
The area that would become Mountain Lakes was originally home to the Lenni Lenape Indians, who dominated the region from about 5,000 B.C. to the last part of the 17th Century. From 1664, as the Indians began to move westward, until 1910, the year that the development of Mountain Lakes began, land titles and boundaries were shifted through disputed ownerships and deeds of dubious legality.
In the late 17th Century, the area was known as Old Forges. By 1700 it was part of Whippanong, then the Hanover area, and by 1759 it had become part of the Great Boonton Tract. In 1798 a small portion was part of Boonton Township, and the rest was included in Hanover Township, an arrangement that would last until the incorporation of Mountain Lakes Borough. The area began to attract settlers in the 18th Century, as Old Boonetown, now Boonton, became a center for iron works and gristmills. Workers, traders, and farmers, primarily of English and Dutch origin, established their families and built homes, some of which are still standing.
In 1908, surveyor Lewis Van Duyne of Boonton approached Herbert J. Hapgood with the idea for development of the then virgin area located on the eastern face of the highlands overlooking the Passaic River Valley. Van Duyne had become familiar with the area while surveying for the future Jersey City Reservoir. That year, Van Duyne and Hapgood began to purchase the land that would become Mountain Lakes, at fifteen dollars an acre, consisting of swampy meadows and woodlots which were losing their value with the increasing popularity of coal. Van Duyne and Hapgood, however, saw value in the development of the area based upon its natural beauty and its proximity to the Lackawanna Railroad.
Work on Mountain Lakes Residential Park began in the winter of 1908-09 with the commencement of clearing and the construction of the basic elements that would set its character as a residential park community: the roads and dams. Man-made lakes were created (Mountain and Wildwood) which formed the focus for the design of the community around which roads and residential lots were laid out. Home construction began in 1910 and the first residents arrived in 1911. The beginning of trolley service in 1910 was a significant asset not only for the new residents but for the workmen clearing the site and building the homes.
In 1914 Joseph Yaccarino opened a grocery store on Midvale Road, which was followed by a drugstore, a luncheonette, a taxi service, and a dry cleaning and tailor shop. Half the stores were later destroyed by fire. The Mountain Lakes Club, which at the time cost the extravagant sum of more than $30,000 to build, was opened the same year. The same year, the local post office opened, the cornerstone of the Community Church was laid, and the Education Department of the Woman's Club began a library with one hundred books donated by members.
Nearly 500 homes were constructed between 1911 and 1923 when Hapgood's operation declared bankruptcy. During this period, the Mountain Lakes Association was formed under the leadership of John L. Houston and Lawrence Luellen (the first resident of the new community and the originator of the Lily Paper Cup). This group, a liaison between the homeowners and developers, was responsible for initiating many improvements before the incorporation of the Borough. Reflecting on this period, the 1934 Mountain Lakes Yearbook explained that:
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"the development companies having failed and new owners being about to come into possession, the citizens were confronted with the possibilities that the property restrictions which had prevailed from the beginning might be disregarded as to the lands which were then unsold, thus destroying the high character of Mountain Lakes. It was recognized that this danger might be avoided and the favorable development of the community and the welfare of its people might best be secured by its incorporation under a distinct municipal government." |
A new era for the Borough began in 1923 with the re-establishment of Hapgood's operations under the new Belhall Company and the incorporation of Mountain Lakes as a municipality in 1924. Trolley service ended in 1928 when the track was taken up and the right-of-way became a sidewalk along the Boulevard. In the late 1920's and early 1930's, the Borough became an automobile-oriented community as roads were paved and area highways improved. By 1931 about six hundred homes were completed and Mountain Lakes was established on a scale sufficient to support a self-sustaining community. The Depression forced the Belhall Company into bankruptcy and its assets were liquidated by 1937 to pay creditors.
In 1938-39 the Borough was able to seize the opportunity to acquire many of the remaining undeveloped building lots, an important and far-sighted act by the new municipality. Many of these areas were eventually incorporated into large preserved open space areas, setting into place the final important element which established the character of the Mountain Lakes community. In the years after the war, other large tracts including Birchwood, Crystal, and Sunset Lakes were acquired and incorporated into the Borough's open space. The preservation of these areas and their dedication as open space for the enjoyment of all residents became a cornerstone of Borough land use policy.
Many of these features and structures from Mountain Lake's early development period still exist today.
The Municipal Land Use Law (which governs planning in New Jersey) outlines a community's responsibilities when planning for historic preservation. One of the central obligations is to adopt a Historic Preservation Plan element which clearly sets forth the criteria for historic significance in the community. Inherent in this requirement is the understanding that historic significance is not, and should not, be limited to great events or prominent people of the distant past. Very often, it involves features and sites of purely local significance that contribute to the local community's sense of place. It is the purpose of the following to satisfy this obligation by describing not only what is historically significant in Mountain Lakes but, most importantly, why it is significant.
2Mountain Lakes Residential Park, by John Steen was the basis of this section.
By the standards of Morris County, which had its beginnings as a distinct entity in Seventeenth Century, the history of Mountain Lakes as a community is relatively recent. Beginning as a planned residential community in the early part of the Twentieth Century, Mountain Lakes nevertheless contains two elements of substantial historic significance.
These elements are of significance to the history of the Borough. In addition, they are significant to the history of American community planning and to American architectural history. As such, they are significant to the history of state and nation as a whole. Following is a discussion of each of these elements and why they are significant.
American suburbs have existed for nearly as long as American cities. The concept of a suburb as a planned community is newer, however. The first American prototype was Llewellyn Park in West Orange (1853), which was followed by Riverside, Illinois (1869), Short Hills in Millburn, New Jersey (1874), Tuxedo Park, New York (1885), and Shaker Heights, Ohio (1892). By the turn-of-the-century, suburban development was a national movement. Contemporaneous to the development of the Mountain Lakes Residential Park by Herbert Hapgood, were Philipse Manor in North Tarrytown, New York, Forest Hills Gardens in Queens, New York City, and Mineola on Long Island. All these residential park communities represent a significant trend and era in the history of American community planning and development.
Mountain Lakes was envisioned by Herbert Hapgood as a residential park community in a sylvan setting tied by convenient rail service to nearby cities. Obtrusive elements were carefully minimized and, as a result, only a few areas were set aside for modest commercial development, segregated from the predominantly residential community. This was a consideration that most other communities would only begin to address through zoning in the 1920's. The roads and residential lots were laid out in a manner that focused the overall design on the manmade lakes that were built as part of the development, as well as conforming to the general contours of the land. This resulted in a curvilinear design that grew out of the characteristics and constraints of the land. This was in marked contrast to most residential planning practices of its time (and indeed today) which was based primarily upon a grid pattern (a design pattern more efficient with land and easier to design and engineer).
Around this time, improvements in transportation (mainly rail) were permitting increasing numbers of people to realize their dream of owning a home outside the city, yet close enough to permit the family to return for work, shopping and cultural pursuits. This was also a time of experimentation and rethinking of urban design and community development, to a large extent inspired by the teachings of Frederic Law Olmsted and the success of the many parks designed and created by him, notably Central Park in New York City. This was an era of great optimism and idealism in American urban planning and community design.
Hapgood's plan for Mountain Lakes was clearly influenced by these trends. His goal was to establish an ideal planned community incorporating many of the elements of the newly created urban parks and to satisfy the desire of the burgeoning middle class for more space, better sanitation and security. Mountain Lakes' original 1910 design featured a "harmony of landscape and architecture so necessary to the beauty of a place of this kind", and each and every homeowner was assured that this harmony would be maintained in perpetuity through careful land use restrictions that were otherwise unavailable in most communities in that era, which predated zoning.
The predominant importance of the setting to the new community's design was carried through into the design of homes. Placement was to a large extent determined by the specific characteristics of the site and the overall orientation of the design to the lakes. Although an eclectic mix of house styles was found in Mountain Lakes from its beginnings, house design in the Mountain Lakes Residential Park was marked by an overall compatibility of design, use of materials, and arrangement of landscape elements, that still are common in the Borough today.
They were eclectic period houses with design features that alluded to Colonial, Neo-Classical, Victorian Queen Anne, Tudor, Prairie, and especially Craftsman traditions. These differences in superficial ornamentation, however, disguised a more fundamental design consistency which featured simple, functional, substantial design that emphasized the use of indigenous materials. An abundance of fieldstone deposited in the area together with oak and chestnut prepared on the site was used throughout for construction, decorative paneling and flooring. Most Hapgood houses were finished with stucco, then much desired for its substantial stately and modern look.
Hapgood houses were the embodiment of the teachings of turn-of-the-century reformers. Most influential was Edward Bok, editor of the Ladies Home Journal, who persuaded leading architects for the first time to prepare plans for comfortable houses customized for the middle class and published those plans in magazines after 1895. Hapgood homes were strongly influenced by the European Arts and Crafts movement which was introduced to America by Elbert Hubbard and Gustav Stickley. Homes built in the Craftsman-influenced style are particularly representative of the community design philosophy embodied in the Mountain Lakes Residential Park. Gustav Stickley, the leading proponent of the Craftsman style, described the philosophy:
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"Craftsman homes are well built, democratic homes, planned for and owned by the people who live in them, homes that solve the servant problem by their simple, pleasant arrangement, and meet the needs of wholesome family life. Big, light airy living rooms that foster the social spirit are a part of its purpose; it holds as essential the open fireplace as the natural nucleus for happy indoor life. The plain yet decorative woodwork and built-in fittings that help to simplify housework and produce a restful, homelike atmosphere are inherent in its plan. The sheltered places for outdoor dining, rest and play, and the healthful sleeping porch which is coming to be recognized as so vital a part of the modern home are inevitably a part of the Craftsman home. It stands, too, for the companionship of gardens, the wholesomeness of country and suburban living and the health and efficiency which these imply." |
In keeping with the Arts and Crafts philosophy, Craftsman-influenced style homes in Mountain Lakes were informal, practical, and comfortable while containing the most modern conveniences of their day. A central hearth formed the nucleus of the design within a large and functional "living room" replacing the more formal Victorian "parlor". The outdoors were emphasized through design elements such as large porches and windows, second floor sleeping porches, pergolas, covered verandahs, walks and garden paths. These characteristics, together with the lakes and natural setting, attracted and encouraged a population of families unusually devoted to outdoor recreation in all seasons.
These characteristics of an early Twentieth Century planned residential park community, relating to community design and layout and to the design of homes, remain vivid today throughout Mountain Lakes. They are significant to the history and character of Mountain Lakes and to the history of American architecture and American community planning.
The following are specific features and sites of historic significance in Mountain Lakes that should be preserved.
The concentration of homes built in a Craftsman-influenced style in Mountain Lakes is significant to the character of the Borough and to American architectural history. The owners of these homes should be educated as to their historic significance and be encouraged to preserve their architecturally significant features.
Native boulderstone was used extensively by Hapgood for foundations, chimneys, porches, pillars and walls throughout the Mountain Lakes Residential Park. Its widespread use adds an important element of design and material consistency that is inherent to the distinct character of Mountain Lakes. Its use in new construction should be encouraged as a means of promoting visual compatibility between old and new.
Two sets of boulderstone pillars, located on Crane Road (near Route 46) and on the northern end of the Boulevard, were built by Hapgood to help define the character of, and provide a gateway to, the new community.
Located across from the Mountain Lakes Train Station, Esplanade Park was designed to reinforce the residential park concept and serve as a focal point of community life. Two large pergolas in the park, constructed by Hapgood, set the tone for the park and for the community in its early years.
Located at 99 Pocono Road, and listed in the Morris County Inventory of Historic Sites and Places, this house was built before 1793 and was once a tavern and post house.
Listed in the Morris County Inventory, the New Jersey State Register, and the National Register of Historic Sites and Places, this pre-1812 house was originally located at 45 Old Bloomfield Avenue, now Route 46. It may have been used as a station for slaves escaping from the South on the underground railroad before and during the Civil War. It was moved in 1979 by the Mountain Lakes Historical Society to 4 Craven Road when a new office building threatened its destruction.
Built in 1913 and located on Baldwin Lane, this structure was originally used as stables and was one of the few non-residential buildings constructed at the time of Mountain Lake's beginnings as a planned residential park community (together with the Midvale Stores and public buildings listed below). Constructed largely of boulderstone, it is representative of the design continuity of the original planned development.
Built in 1913 on Midvale Road, these buildings housed many commercial and public uses essential to the early community. These activities, together with the proximity to the Train Station, made the area the true center of Mountain Lakes in its early years.
The following major edifices are listed in the Morris County Inventory of Historic Sites and Places. They housed important functions in the early years of the Borough and continue to enjoy significant community support today. They are all of characteristic boulderstone construction.
Mountain Lakes Train Station (19123) Lake Drive School (1914) Community Church (1914) St. Peter's Church (1927) |
3 In 1920 it was reconstructed and added to, largely from the same materials, after it was destroyed by fire.
The following are the major proposals relating to historic preservation in Mountain Lakes.
The character, quality of life and relative high property values in Mountain Lakes owe a great deal to the Borough's historic legacy that still remains vivid today. More active efforts at public education will lead to a better public understanding and appreciation of these facts and should be undertaken wherever possible. Active public education efforts will be a crucial element in the preservation of the Borough's historic legacy.
Individual homeowners of historically significant homes should be informed about the historic significance of their homes, advised about how best to preserve that significance and supported in any preservation efforts.
The Borough has an extensive archive of materials relating to its early history. These materials include old photos, plans, deeds, oral histories and other materials. Continued support for this archive is recommended in order that it be properly maintained (and added to) for future generations.
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