Hello all. I have been going to Lake Oswego for over 30 years. I always thought it was several old cranberry bogs that had been flooded and that the cement foundation were from a old pump house. I was there yesterday and was told by a local that it was actually a lake for swimming and the old foundations were bath houses. I googled for hours but the only thing I found was that it was a swimming lake back in 1942 and there were bath houses. Does anyone know if any pictures exist? I would love to see what it looked like back in the day.....thanks
Old photo's of Lake Oswego
- Thread starter Suzanne G Cross
- Start date
8/14/1934
State Forester C. P. Wilber has under construction a lake in the forest which will cover 50 acres. The area to be flooded includes an ADJACENT cranberry bog reservoir, the source of the water supply being the Oswego River. From Bear Swamp Hill, a local land-mark, there can be obtained an excellent view of the surrounding country for 30 or 40 miles in all directions. A picnic site and an observation tower are being built on this location.
State Forester C. P. Wilber has under construction a lake in the forest which will cover 50 acres. The area to be flooded includes an ADJACENT cranberry bog reservoir, the source of the water supply being the Oswego River. From Bear Swamp Hill, a local land-mark, there can be obtained an excellent view of the surrounding country for 30 or 40 miles in all directions. A picnic site and an observation tower are being built on this location.
Thank you so much for this! Hoping to find some pics! I really appreciate this info
You probably already found this, but if not: This "History of Penn State Forest" document: https://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/docs/penn_sf_history.pdf has a sentence about Lake Oswego (which is partly within Penn SF), saying it was developed in 1942 "with picnic and bathing facilities". No pictures here, unfortunately. But the sentence is footnoted with a reference: Kevin Wright, “A Century of Forest Stewardship in New Jersey, 1905-2005,” 22." If you can find that book or document, it might be of more help.
Good find! Interesting read, but alas, no pictures or details re: Lake Oswego. Same exact sentence as quoted in the Penn SF History document, then some text about the CCC work in 1938-1939. It mentions a recreation center, but maybe that was just the lakeside picnic area. Was there really a forest fire service landing field at Penn? Probably refers to Coyle Field to the north.
A little bit of info on Wikipedia. But looking at it further I think it refers to the lake at Harrisville ) instead of Oswego.
en.m.wikipedia.org
File:OswegoRiverNewJerseyJune1939.JPG - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
Suzanne, you may have better luck looking through historic CCC photos of the area. The corp was very active at Oswego and the surrounding areas.
Might check at Bass River SF, they have CCC records there, maybe they have something on the work at Oswego. There is this CCC site for NJ, but no info for Penn SF. My Uncle was in the CCC and I was able to get his service records from the CCC museum; his camp was out in Utah.
Camps & Parks in New Jersey
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a nationwide government work program that provided jobs for unemployed men between the ages of seventeen to twenty-five. They had many camps all over...
thecivilianconservationcorps.weebly.com
I know there are CCC records and artifacts from the Bass River CCC camp at the Bass River forest office, but I don't know about Penn / Lake Oswego. I kind of doubt it.
You never know if you never ask
This site helped quite a bit with my research. The link is just for NJ.
This may be that camp.
| S-60 | 1284 | -C | 10/30/1933 | Chatsworth | Chatsworth | Penn State Forest 13 mi S |
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Yes that is likely it.
In case people weren't aware, the Penn SF CCC camp was for African American young men. Segregation was legal and common at that time.
I'll be at the Bass River office this week and I'll ask around / look around.
In case people weren't aware, the Penn SF CCC camp was for African American young men. Segregation was legal and common at that time.
I'll be at the Bass River office this week and I'll ask around / look around.
I tried to track down the author, but sadly he passed away up in Bergen County.
"Kevin Wright, a quintessential New Jersey historian and indefatigable champion and protector of New Bridge Landing, Bergen County’s cherished Revolutionary War site, died Thursday at Hackensack University Medical Center. He was 64 and a resident of River Edge":
Kevin Wright, passionate defender of Bergen’s history, dies at 64
Kevin Wright, a quintessential New Jersey historian and indefatigable champion and protector of New Bridge Landing, Bergen County’s cherished Revolutionary War site, died Thursday at Hackensack University Medical Center. He was 64 and a resident...
www.northjersey.com
What I found striking was Wright's notes on John Clayton Gifford, the first forester with a PhD degree. He also taught forestry at Cornell and the University of Miami. While I knew Gifford had deep interest in South Jersey landscapes, I had no idea he grew up in Mays Landing next to Spoony's Marina (born 1870). John spent much of his youth in the Hamilton Township woods, when he wasn't working on his father's boat. I was particularly interested in his thoughts on spungs, cripples, and savannahs. Contemporaries note he could tell a good yarn.
Gifford secretly married Edith D. McCarthy, of Plainfield, New Jersey, at his Mays Landing home in 1896. Herself a forester, she is credited with saving the Palisades along the Hudson from destruction by quarry operations:
The Palisades in Peril: Meet the Forgotten Women Who Fought to Save the Great Cliffs of the Hudson River | Behind The Scenes
The champion racing yacht Marietta set sail from Pier A in lower Manhattan on the chilly late morning of September 22, 1897. Mrs. Edith Gifford was aboard along with fellow members of the New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs (NJSFWC) and their male allies from the American Scenic and...
behindthescenes.nyhistory.org
S-M
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