Lake Hopatcong
Template:For Template:Infobox body of water Lake Hopatcong is the largest freshwater body in New Jersey, United States, about Template:Convert in area. Located Template:Convert from the Delaware River and Template:Convert from Manhattan, New York City, the lake forms part of the border between Sussex and Morris counties in the state's northern highlands region.
Lake Hopatcong was produced by damming and flooding of two ponds, known as the Great Pond and Little Pond, and the Musconetcong River, its natural outlet. Historically known as a resort lake for vacationing New Yorkers, it is now a mostly suburban residential lake.
NameEdit
The exact origin of the name Hopatcong is unknown, though it is most commonly attributed to the Lenape Indian word for "stone water," or "stone over water".<ref name="njskylands.com">Koppenhaver, Bob. "Ye Olde Lake". Skylands Visitor. Summer 2013: 8-13. (Print)</ref> Some linguists believe "Hopatcong" to be a derivative of the Lenape word hapakonoesson, meaning "pipe stone". One explanation of the origin of the word Hopatcong is that it was a derivation from the Lenni Lenape word Huppakong meaning "honey waters of many coves," but this wording was probably invented at the beginning of the 20th century to stimulate tourism.<ref name="hopatcong.org">Welcome to Hopatcong, Historical Information Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name=tws>Lakelubbers.com, Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey, USA, Retrieved August 20, 2016,..."The origins of the unusual name, Hopatcong, are disputed. Some say that the name derives from the Native American Lenni Lenape word "huppakong," meaning "honey waters of many coves."..."</ref><ref name=twsNJSky1>Bob Koppenhaver, NJ Skylands, Lake Hopatcong -- Ye Olde Lake, Retrieved August 20, 2016, "...One thing is for certain: the name does not mean "honey waters of many coves", as fanciful early travel writers claimed...."</ref>
Before the late 1700s, Lake Hopatcong was known by several names, including Great Pond and Little Pond (before flooding into a single lake), Sandhay Sea (circa 1648), Brookland Pond (mid-1700s), and Musconetcong Pond (1769).<ref name="njskylands.com"/><ref>Template:Cite gnis Variant names: Brooklyn Pond, Great Pond</ref>
Lake formationEdit
Before the last ice age, the waters of the prehistoric Hopatcong basin fed into the Raritan River. The glacier that shaped much of the New Jersey Highlands formed a long terminal moraine that forced water from the basin into the Musconetcong River. The glacier left behind two ponds, nearly Template:Convert apart.
In the early 1700s, the Great Pond stretched between Henderson Bay and today's Hopatcong State Park. Little Pond was a small body of water to the south of Woodport. The two lakes were first dammed in 1750. By 1831, Lake Hopatcong had been flooded to nearly its current shape.<ref name="njskylands.com"/>
HistoryEdit
Native AmericansEdit
The Lenape Indians discovered the area of Lake Hopatcong about 12,000 years ago. They settled near the Great Pond and Little Pond, which provided abundant fish and forested shores with ample game.<ref name="hopatcong.org"/> The waters became important to the traditions of the matrilineal clans of Native Americans.
Colonial developmentEdit
Colonial exploration of the Great and Little Ponds began in the 1600s. Between 1750 and 1764, a dam was built on the Musconetcong River for the Brookland Forge and mill where the river empties from the lake (now the area of Hopatcong State Park), raising the water level by about Template:Convert and joining the Great and Little Ponds into one. By this time, most of the local Lenape population had died of disease or left the area.<ref name="hopatcong.org"/>
In the years that followed the American Revolution, little development occurred near Lake Hopatcong because of the mountainous terrain.<ref name="hopatcong.org"/>
IndustrializationEdit
More than Template:Convert above sea level, Lake Hopatcong served as a natural high point and primary water supply for the Morris Canal between the Delaware River and New York Harbor. In 1831, the Morris Canal Company purchased the Brookland Forge site and replaced the dam with its own, with the intention of using the lake water to supply the Morris Canal, which would connect Phillipsburg to Newark. This new dam raised the water Template:Convert above the original level of Great Pond, and caused the Great Pond to connect with Little Pond and form the current Lake Hopatcong.
The flooding and subsequent formation of a single, large lake created a new geography of the area. Halsey Island and Raccoon Island, the only two true islands on Lake Hopatcong, were disconnected from the mainland. Bertrand Island and Liffy Island formed as peninsulas. Other changes included the creation of Prospect Point, the backflowing of the River Styx in Hopatcong to create an inlet, and King Cove and the south end of the lake near Landing.
In the 1850s, the Morris and Essex became the first railroad to reach Lake Hopatcong on the southern end. In the 1860s, the Ogden Mine Railroad used Nolan's Point to transfer ore from northern New Jersey mines into canal boats. The railroad and canal systems were the chief means of transporting coal, iron, and zinc across New Jersey in the 1860s. In 1866, over Template:Convert of freight was transported on the canal.<ref>NJ Dept of Environmental Protection, Hopatcong State Park Website</ref>
Resort destinationEdit
In 1882, passenger rail service came to Lake Hopatcong, brought by the Central Railroad of New Jersey, which terminated at Nolan's Point.<ref name="hopatcong.org"/> This turned the lake into a popular summer resort.
Among the hotels built to support the growing tourism industry was the luxurious Breslin Hotel, constructed in Van Every Cove in Mount Arlington with 250 rooms and electricity.<ref>Then and Now: Breslin Hotel. Lake Hopatcong News. October 8, 2009.</ref> During the peak summer season, the lake was so popular that hotel rooms were difficult to come by and some visitors resorted to camping near the lake.<ref>Lake Hopatcong: Hotels are All Crowded and Visitors Obliged to Camp Out. The New York Times. August 19, 1902.</ref>
Various amusements sprang up around the lake. Bertrand Island Amusement Park was open for the late spring, summer, and early fall seasons. The island also hosted beauty pageants, including an unofficial 1934 Miss America. The Lake Hopatcong Yacht Club, constructed in 1910 on Bertrand Island, remains a landmark.
Lake Hopatcong hosted several strong chess tournaments in the 1920s, including the Ninth American Chess Congress in 1923, which was won by Frank Marshall and Abraham Kupchik, and another tournament in 1926, which was won by world champion José Raúl Capablanca.
Lake Hopatcong flourished in the 1920s, and many famous people owned property on the lake, including Vaudeville's Joe Cook, who owned Sleepless Hollow in Davis Cove; Vaudeville's Owen McGiveney (father to Maura McGiveney), who owned a house in the River Styx section for more than 30 years;<ref>Famous Vaudevillian’s family returns to Lake Hopatcong this month. Roxbury Register. September 25, 2013.</ref> actress Lotta Crabtree, who owned the Attol Tryst home in Mount Arlington; and inventor and chemist Hudson Maxim. Their presence attracted many famous visitors, including Babe Ruth, Bud Abbott, Bert Lahr,Lou Costello, and Milton Berle.<ref name="hopatcong.org"/>
Conversion to residential lakeEdit
Tourism and other business endeavors near the lake, hit hard by the Great Depression, waned in the 1930s and 1940s. Permanent residences were constructed in the area, including small bungalows, in the 1940s and '50s. Much of the modern residential development surrounding the lake was completed in the 1960s and '70s.
21st centuryEdit
2000 floodEdit
More than Template:Convert of rain fell in a small area of southeastern Sussex and northwestern Morris County in northwestern New Jersey during August 11–14, 2000. Doppler radar estimates of total rainfall for the 4-day period reached about Template:Convert along the border between Sussex and Morris Counties. A severe thunderstorm on August 12 dropped so much rain in six hours that it was judged a 1,000-year event.
Peak flows at the USGS gauges on Lake Hopatcong (01455400) and Musconetcong River (01455500), among others, were the highest ever recorded. These gauges are at sites that drain areas that received 10 or more inches of rain during August 11–14. Peak flows on Lake Hopatcong and on the Musconetcong River just downstream from the lake exceeded those of a 100-year flood.<ref>SPARTA, NEW JERSEY, FLOOD OF AUGUST 11-14, 2000, U.S. Geologic Survey Template:Webarchive</ref>
Lake Hopatcong sustained flooding damage, particularly the Great Cove area at Nolan's Point.<ref>Photos of Lake Hopatcong 2000 Flood</ref>
2008-09 drawdownEdit
Every five years, starting the day after Labor Day, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) water-level management plan allows the lake to be lowered Template:Convert to inspect the dam structure, repair lakeshore structures, control aquatic vegetation, and remove silt and drainage material from areas around the lake.<ref>DEP Allows Temporary Water Flow Reduction from Lake Hopatcong. NJDEP Website. April 3, 2009.</ref>
From December 2008 to January 2009, the DEP left the dam open almost three weeks too long, which caused the water to drop almost a foot (0.3 m) below the normal drawdown level. A group of residents and business owners sued the DEP and the State of New Jersey, claiming that the DEP, against policy, released an extra Template:Convert. As of 2009 the case was being appealed in local court. <ref>Wright, Peggy. Lake Hopatcong merchants' suit vs. DEP sent to appeals court. Daily Record. May 1, 2009. Template:Webarchive</ref>
On May 11, 2009, the American Power Boat Association (APBA) and the Lake Hopatcong Racing Association (LHRA) postponed their annual races due to the low water level.<ref>Zusman, Charles. Powerboat racing postponed at the lake. NJ.com website. May 12, 2009.</ref> However, with the large amount of rainfall that June, the lake returned to its proper level above the normal average depth.
In July 2014, there were reports of a Template:Convert boa constrictor in the lake,<ref>Star-Ledger, July 15, 2014, JANE PRIMERANO, Reptile expert to search for boa constrictor reportedly seen in Lake Hopatcong, Accessed July 15, 2014, "...the search for a boa constrictor that has been spotted by several individuals in Lake Hopatcong...."</ref> but officials by August mostly figured it was a myth or a hoax.<ref name=twsNJ42>August 1, 2014 DEP shuts down snake in Lake Hopatcong theory, others not so sure, Retrieved August 21, 2016, "...Larry Ragonese, the DEP’s chief spokesman, didn’t discount the idea that a pet owner got tired of the maintenance... There is no evidence of a species depleted or pets disappearing,’.."</ref> According to one report, the reports caused a 10% drop in tourism to the lake during the summer of 2014.<ref name=twsNJ42/>
TodayEdit
Lake Hopatcong is now mostly a residential lake whose few public access points include Hopatcong State Park and Lee's County Park Marina.<ref>Morris County Park Commission Website for Lee's County Park Marina Template:Webarchive</ref> Most of the shoreline is privately owned by individual lakefront residents, homeowner or community associations, or private businesses (e.g., restaurants and marinas).
Lake Hopatcong, unlike most lakes in New Jersey (other than Greenwood Lake on the New York border and Lake Lackawanna in Byram), has bars and restaurants that are accessible directly by boat. Popular tourist attractions on the lake include the Hopatcong State Park, the Lake Hopatcong Historical Museum, and the Lake Hopatcong Yacht Club.
On November 22, 2005, the EPA gave the Lake Hopatcong Commission a federal grant of $745,000 to improve the water quality and prevent phosphorus from entering the lake.<ref>EPA brings $745K to Lake Hopatcong. Roxbury Register. December 1, 2005. pp. 1–2.</ref>
Lake managementEdit
Lake Hopatcong is shared by two counties (Sussex and Morris) and four boroughs and townships (Mount Arlington, Hopatcong, Jefferson Township, and Roxbury Township).
At some point in the 20th century, decisions about lake management were shaped by the state-funded Lake Hopatcong Regional Planning Board, which made recommendations to the state. Made up of representatives from each town, county, and the state, the board proved ineffective. Weeds proliferated, water quality declined, and recreation suffered.<ref name="newjerseyhills.com">Zoschak, Aughey named to new Lake Hopatcong Commission. New Jersey Hills. March 22, 2001.</ref>
In January 2001, Governor of New Jersey Christie Whitman signed a bill to create the Lake Hopatcong Commission, a state-funded governing body with an annual budget to maintain, upgrade and protect the lake.<ref>Whitman signs bill creating lake commission. New Jersey Hills. January 18, 2001.</ref> The commission consists of 11 members: a representative from Morris county, Sussex county, Hopatcong, Jefferson Twp, Mount Arlington, and Roxbury Twp, and five state members, including one from the Department of Environmental Protection and one from Community Affairs. The chairperson of the commission and two other public members are appointed by the governor.<ref name="newjerseyhills.com"/>
But the commission has seen annual budget cuts since its inception, and has provided little more than weed harvesting services.<ref>Lake Hopatcong Commission on last legs? Condon, Mike. October 17, 2012.</ref> In 2012, the state took over the weed harvesting services through Hopatcong State Park.<ref>Cash-starved Lake Hopatcong Commission still searching for a way to pay its bills. Goldberg, Dan. The Star-Ledger. September 2, 2012.</ref> The Lake Hopatcong Commission was not provided state funding for 2013 and now operates solely on grants. The commission administrator was laid off on December 21, 2012, and administrative responsibilities for grants are managed by Jefferson Township.<ref>Lake Hopatcong Commission out of cash; chairman blames politics. Kuty, Brendan. NJ.com. December 4, 2012.</ref>
WildlifeEdit
With the probable exception of the Delaware River, Lake Hopatcong is home to the greatest variety of gamefish species of any waterway in New Jersey.
Each spring, the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife stocks the lake with rainbow trout, and in past years also stocked brook and brown trout, although they have not typically held over and survived the summers, due to an absence of cold, deep, oxygenated pockets of water in the lake. Largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, sunfish, yellow and white perch, rock bass, bluegill, crappie, chain pickerel, channel catfish, bullhead, and carp all inhabit the lake. Eels also have been caught. Hybrid striped bass, walleye, and most recently, muskellunge have been stocked within the last few decades and now are thriving. Catfish also are stocked from time to time. The main forage is the abundant alewife herring, (Clupea vernalis), the basis of the lake's fish food chain.