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Historic Preservation Committee

E-mail Recollection

  1. Name:

    Carrie Shaw

  2. Mailing address:

    Davis, CA 95616

  3. When and where were you born?

    August 29, 1957 in Biloxi, Mississippi

  4. When did you come to Mountain Lakes?

    August, 1963. My family arrived in Mountain Lakes just before the start of school. We stayed in the White Deer Motel for a few weeks until we could move into our house. Needless to say, the White Deer Motel was a bit nicer in 1963.

  5. Tell us something about your family did your parents also live here?

    My mother, Joan Shaw, was a registered nurse, an artist, and a homemaker. My father, Walter Shaw, was a mining engineer and worked in lower Manhattan. My sister Sandra Shaw (class of 1964) spent her senior year at MLHS. She married John R. Battista (class of 1964). My brother Robert Shaw (class of 1965) spent his junior and senior year at MLHS. He married Bonnie Weidmann (class of 1966).

  6. Where have you lived in the Borough? In which houses?

    We lived at 80 Ball Road from September, 1963 until December, 1974. My parents moved to Pasadena, CA in January, 1975 but I stayed with my best friend, Cindy Wood and her family at 241 Morris Avenue until graduation in June, 1975.

  7. What do you remember particularly about the houses and properties where you lived?

    Our house was a three-story stucco Hapgood "Laker" built around 1917. It cost $34K in 1963. It had five bedrooms and three and a half baths. I saw the house in 2002 and it looked the same as when we sold it in 1974. I recall the huge bedrooms; the open sleeping porch on the back of the house; the fireplaces in the living and dining rooms; the gorgeous oak floors, chestnut woodwork, and built-in bookcases; the cast iron clawfoot tubs; the huge front entrance hall; the old unfinished basement that flooded in heavy rains; the old oil-fired furnace; the portico on the front of the house; the sunroom on the back of the house; and the big sledding hill on our side yard. When I was a teenager I got to move into a bedroom on the third floor of our house that had a built in desk with a window. I recall being able to study while looking into the tops of the trees at the birds in their nests. In 1974 my parents sold the house for about $75K.

  8. What are some of your special memories growing up in Mountain Lakes?

    Jumping in leaf piles in the winter. Smelling the burning leaves. Walking to school with friends. Sledding down Ball Road in the winter. Walking down to the train station in the evening to meet my dad's. Buying candy at "Yacs" (the ML Market). Putting pennies on the railroad tracks and watching the trains run over them. Picking mulberries from the trees at the railroad station. Ballet lessons at the Community Church. Playing at the Boat Dock. Swimming at Island Beach and Birchwood Lake. Ice skating on Mountain Lake and Wildwood lakes in the winter. Hiking from the Tourne to Birchwood Lake. Riding bikes to Del's Village to the five and dime store. Buying Taylor Ham at the A&P.

  9. Where did you go to school? What particular memories do you have from your school years? Are there any special stories you associate with that time of your life?

    I went to every school in Mountain Lakes. I started in 1963 in 1st grade at Wildwood School. In 3rd grade I recall having to be at the high school while the round addition on Wildwood school was finished (I distinctly recall feeling very small compared to the high schoolers). We were all excited by the modern donut shaped design of the new addition. Lake Drive school housed 5th and 6th grades. I recall watching the Apollo launches on TVs in class. I fondly recall the fairs that used to be set up behind Lake Drive school. I also remember going bowling at the ML Club after school with friends who were members. In winter it was fun to walk to school from the Boat Dock to Lake Drive School across the ice on Mountain Lake. I don't recall too much about my time at Briarcliff School except some of the teachers: The GAA Show was the highlight of my years at MLHS. Teachers I recall fondly include: Ms. Metzger (gym teacher), Mr. Fox (art teacher), Ms. Christo (music teacher), Ms. MacIntosh, (biology teacher). It was wonderful to go to school with the same 140 kids (give or take 20) for all those years.

  10. Where did you and your family shop?

    Del's Village, Boonton, and Denville. We shopped for clothes in Morristown and NYC.

  11. What were the roads and the lakes like?

    The roads were narrow and had little traffic. Kids could run and play without supervision. The lakes and woods provided hours of fun for kids. We could spend all day climbing trees, building forts, hiking and exploring, fishing, swimming, canoeing, sailing, ice skating, playing hockey, etc...

  12. Are there any special people you remember who contributed to the life of the town? Why do they stand out in your mind?

    Dr. Pancake, Reverend of the Community Church married both my siblings and did the funeral service for my brother.

  13. What did you do for fun formal recreation, sports and entertainment in general?

    I took dance lessons (ballet, modern and jazz) at the Community Church, Wilson School, and in Morristown all through my childhood. Of course the high school football and basketball games were the social events of the week for many families. Occasionally my family would go into NYC to see a ballet, show, or to the museums.

  14. Are there any special events that stand out in your mind?

    Fourth of July fireworks over Mountain Lake! The lakeside homeowners used to ring the lake with flares along the shoreline. The GAA shows at MLHS were also major events in my life.

  15. Did your parents and the parents of your friends work nearby? In New York or elsewhere? How did they get to work? How did commuting change over your time here?

    My father took the train to work in lower Manhattan the whole time we lived in ML. Some of my friends parents also took the train.

  16. How did various laws affect the way people lived?

  17. Did you have a sense of Mountain Lakes as a unique place in its lifestyle, its homes, as a community?

    While I lived in ML I had no idea about its history or about its uniqueness. To a child and teenager it seemed no different than other nearby towns in northern New Jersey. After graduation from high school, I immediately moved west to California and Colorado. After living in other places for a decade or so, and coming back to ML for school reunions, it became clear that ML was a unique place. While in ML in 1995 for my 20th high school reunion, I looked into information about the history of ML and the architecture of the old Hapgood "Lakers." Every time I return to ML for a visit, I'm grateful that it has retained so much of its character.

  18. How did the world's events -- World War I, the Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the assassination of JFK, Viet Nam, Watergate, etc. -- affect you and fellow Mountain Lakes residents when you were growing up?

    I recall the assassination of JFK very clearly. I was home from school in the afternoon and the Fuller Brush Man came to the door. He told my mom. She broke down crying and we spent the rest of the afternoon glued to the RADIO! The war in Viet Nam was also memorable because my brother was always concerned about being drafted. Also, we'd watch the news on TV as a family each evening and I'll never forget the daily statistics of number of dead and wounded.

  19. What made living in Mountain Lakes special to you, as you think back over your life here?

    Growing up in ML was wonderful. There were so many children in the 1960s. It seemed like every house had a bunch of kids. We would play together after school and on weekends with no adult direction and little supervision. There we no fences between yards so you could go anywhere and there was a tremendous sense of freedom. We always played outdoors unless it was raining. I think growing up in ML gave me my love of nature and outdoor recreation. It also instilled in me a deep appreciation for architecture (particularly arts and crafts and craftsman homes) and for well-planned, human-scaled communities.




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