|
About Lake Mohawk
Sparta, New Jersey
The information
presented below is from the book entitled Sparta,
NJ Head of the Wallkill - A History of Sparta in Images and Words
by William R. Truran, Trupower Press (c)2005, ISBN 0-9764931-0-1. This
book is currently in print and available on-line and local book stores.
Before the town of
Sparta was named, the area was called "The Head of the
Wallkill" a river which flows north to Franklin, NJ. Sparta was
named by Phoebe Ogden on February 13, 1845. The town is located
on the main route from Newton (the County seat of Sussex) to
Morristown along the Union Turnpike. In the late 1800's and
early 1900's Sparta was a destination for summer vacationers.
First they arrived by train, then by automobile. Sparta has sections
such as Monroe, Lake Grinnell, Lake Mohawk, Hopewell, Edison, Lake
Saginaw, Seneca Lake and others. Until 1914, Ogdensburg was a
section as well. An interesting fact: the Sparta Female Seminary
was built in 1839 which provided the rare service of educating young
women.
Lake Mohawk was a
well-planned development in the 1920's. A man-made lake, it is
one of the largest lakes in New Jersey. Johnny Weismuller of
Olympic swimming and Tarzan movie fame was on-hand at the
opening. The Lake's founder, Herbert Closs (1898 - 1996) started
at age 14 as a carpenter and grew his business by buying and fixing
homes in Newark. He then moved west and north into Morris and
Sussex counties. Arthur D. Crane (1877 - 1945) was co-founder of
Lake Mohawk with Closs. Crane also started working at age
14. The Closs-Crane team along with others envisioned the Lake
and in typical American fashion made their dream a reality with
persistence, determination and skill.
Useful Links:
The Sparta Township web site is http://www.spartanj.net/
The municipal web site is http://www.spartanj.org/
The Public School site is http://www.sparta.org/
Also check out http://www.mysparta.com/
|
