By the 1870s Eagle Rock was establishing itself as a resort on top of the Orange Mountain with several small hotels. It offered a commanding panoramic view to the east and had become a popular destination.

By 1894 a trolley line opened and ran along current day Mountain Avenue ending just below Eagle Rock. There also was a hotel located on Mountain Avenue at the trolley terminus. Across from the hotel one would then have to walk up The 100 Steps to reach the top of Eagle Rock. The trolley line provided a means of transportation that helped both Eagle Rock and Crystal Lake gain in popularity and accessibility.

From Eagle Rock Crystal Lake was only a short leisurely stroll of less then a mile down Eagle Rock Avenue. By the 1890s a hotel had been built at the entrance to Crystal Lake. This hotel sat at what today is the entrance to the parking lot for the bowling alley on Eagle Rock Avenue. With the increased popularity and the natural scenic beauty that Crystal Lake offered it slowly began to emerge beginning around 1900 as a popular weekend destination offering boating, picnic grounds, and winter ice skating. Eventually it blossomed into an small amusement park with rides. By the 1920s and early 1930s each August West Orange Commissioner George V. McDonough sponsored an annual outing at Crystal Lake. On McDonough Day, as it was known, local kids were picked up at the playgrounds and bused to the lake. It offered a day of fun distracting them from the dark days of the depression when they were treated to food, boating, entertainment, and unlimited rides at the park that lasted into the early evening.

Crystal Lake had peaked in popularity during the 1930s. But soon after it began a steady decline into the 1950s. By the late 1970s the property was abandoned and neglected and the remaining buildings left in a state of disrepair and slowly disappearing. In the 1990s a developer refurbished the lake and adjoining properties when building townhouses on the west shore. Today the lake survives at the end of a parking lot next to a bowling alley as the only link to West Orange’s truly forgotten era.

The above postcard shows what Crystal Lake looked liked around 1907. This view would be looking west from the current day parking lot of the bowling alley by the edge of the shore. The building all the way to the left with what appears to be a chute going into the lake is an ice house. This was probably the oldest and one of the first buildings at Crystal Lake. The building to the right of that (almost in the center of the postcard) is the carousel of the amusement park. It first appeared on maps in 1904. The white building to the right is the boat house. Like may postcards from this time period it referred to Crystal Lake as being part of Eagle Rock which it was not.

This exact view was captured on a short 25 second film in 1898 by Thomas Edison. The film was shot looking from the same perspective of the postcard and the ice house is the only building seen at that time in 1898. The other buildings therefore were most likely added some time after 1900. The short film entitled Hockey Match on The Ice was shot on February 24, 1898 and offers a rare glimpse into the Crystal Lake of yesterday. It has been a fact lost to history since the film was vague about the exact location and listed it as near Orange. But the building seen in the background of the film is clearly the ice house that was at Crystal Lake at that time and seen in the 1907 postcard. It is possible that this was the first time in history that a hockey game was ever recorded on film. That would make this location at Crystal Lake in West Orange an historic location that has been completely forgotten by time.

You can click on the link below to see the film.