Remembering Bertrand Island Park–a getaway that helped New Jersey forget another pandemic

Corner of Lake Hopatcong, 1906, Lake Hopatcong, NJ. North Jersey History and Genealogy Center Collections.

By Jeffrey V. Moy, North Jersey History and Genealogy Center

For several decades in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Bertrand Island’s cool waters and natural resources created an attractive summer refuge for affluent and middle class residents seeking to escape from New York and New Jersey’s hot, muggy, loud and smoky cities. 

Robinson’s Atlas of Morris County New Jersey. Compiled From Official Records Private Plans & Actual Surveys Under the Direction of E. Robinson. E. Robinson, Publisher, 1887. North Jersey History & Genealogy Center (NJHGC) collections.

Inhabited for approximately 12,000 years by the Lenape tribe, which valued the abundant hunting game and fish provided by Hopatcong’s two glacial lakes, Lenape settlers also mined iron from large outcroppings that jutted from mountains along northwestern New Jersey. Deposits were particularly rich near Rockaway. 

European settlers acquired this information during the early 1700s upon occupying and purchasing land in what is now Morris County, and the region quickly became an important iron mining center.

Designers of the Morris Canal created the current Lake Hopatcong in 1831 by damming and flooding the two glacial ponds, which fed the canal system and formed New Jersey’s largest freshwater lake.  

Detail of Robinson’s Atlas of Morris County New Jersey showing Bertrand Island. Compiled From Official Records Private Plans & Actual Surveys Under the Direction of E. Robinson. E. Robinson, Publisher, 1887. NJHGC collections.

Separated from the rest of the mainland by a narrow body of water, Charles Bertrand purchased the island that became his namesake along with a large swath of land in Lake Hopatcong during the 1860s.

Intending to raise his family here, Bertrand constructed an impressive estate. Following his sudden death in 1870, however, the home subsequently was destroyed by fire and the family abandoned the site.

South Point, Raccoon Island, Lake Hopatcong, N.J., Detroit Publishing Company photo, ca.1900. Library of Congress collections.

A private men’s hunting and fishing club purchased the island in the 1880s to take advantage of its wildlife and game fish.

The Bertrand Island Club built its clubhouse on the footprint of the estate’s old foundation, which offered a secluded spot for members to drink and play cards, as well as host families on alternating weekends. The clubhouse remained busy for more than a decade until it too fell victim to fire, and the property sat vacant.

By the early 1880s, train service greatly increased the number of visitors to Lake Hopatcong, and by 1900 several grand hotels and modest rooming houses welcomed thousands of vacationers.

The Morris County Traction Company was chartered in 1899, and by 1908 it made the journey by trolley available to the surrounding towns of Dover and Morristown and as far away as the prosperous cities of Elizabeth and Newark, which in the early 1900s employed one quarter of the state’s residents, many of whom manufactured products sold around the world.

For residents of brownstones and old ring suburban houses, the trolley to Lake Hopatcong provided an affordable escape from the summer heat. 

Little Coney, circa 1900, Lake Hopatcong, NJ. NJHGC postcard collection.

Many longtime visitors fondly remember Bertrand Island’s beach but it was not a natural feature. In 1905, a group of businessmen sought to develop land around the island, and in order to attract investors they created an artificial beach along its shore and proposed relocating the casino from the 1904 St. Louis Exposition, as well as connecting the island to train and steamship service.

None of these schemes occurred with the exception of the beach, known among locals as “Little Coney.”

In 1908, Newark schoolteacher Louis Kraus and his wife Elsie recognized Lake Hopatcong’s unparalleled popularity as a destination resort but also noticed that its rowdy hotels primarily catered to affluent clientele.

Sensing a profitable opportunity, Louis and Elsie established Camp Village in the Prospect Point section in 1908, where for $6 per week working families could rent canvas tents featuring wooden roofs and porches with lake view windows, and fully equipped with sleeping cots, stoves, lanterns, and cooking implements — all conveniently within walking distance of the camp store. 

Trolley carrying Morristown residents on an outing to Lake Hopatcong, Aug. 4, 1926. Frederick Curtiss photo. NJHGC collection.

Trolley service connected Morristown directly to Bertrand Island in 1910, and the leisurely two-hour ride cost 35 cents. The ensuing rush of tourists to the island retreat provided opportunities for entrepreneurs to establish food stands, games and amusements, a carousel, water slides, a shooting range, and moonlight boat excursions.

By the time automobiles displaced trolleys in the mid 1920s, the Bertrand Island Transportation Company operated a large fleet of boats that shuttled passengers to all points around Lake Hopatcong. Destinations included elegant hotel restaurants, small campsites, and numerous amusements set up alongside Bertrand Island’s bustling midway.

New Breslin Hotel and grounds, Mt. Arlington, N.J. on Lake Hopatcong, W.J. Harris photo, ca.1913. Library of Congress collections.

By 1919, Louis Kraus recognized the growing demand for, and value of, hotel lodging in Hopatcong and retired from teaching to complete construction of the California Lodge. The 40-room hotel included a large dance hall with live music and provided recreational activities to guests for $16 per week. It was located opposite of what later became the entrance to Bertrand Island Park. 

Morristown children line up for a trip to Lake Hopatcong, August 4, 1926. Frederick Curtiss Photo. NJHGC collection.

Entering the 1920s, Americans had survived the total mobilization of its citizen soldiers and civilian population towards winning the Great War. And they had suffered nearly two years of illness, death, and economic loss from the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic.

Seeking an escape and reaffirmation of life, America threw a decade-long party. 

Boardwalk at Bertrand Island Park, circa 1920, Lake Hopatcong, NJ. NJHGC postcard collection.

The Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 sparked the golden age of American amusement parks, which numbered over 1,500 by 1920, and it was during this decade that the Krauses shifted their business towards amusements.

Louis Kraus partnered with Charles Schleicher in 1921 to purchase Bertrand Island and capitalize on its signature beach to attract visitors with a new wooden boardwalk and midway that featured games, shops, food vendors, and other amusements for decades to come.

Basket Pavillion at Bertrand Island Park, Interior, circa 1920. Fresh air was one of many widely touted preventive measures during the 1918 Influenza Pandemic (including face coverings, sunlight, and isolating the sick) and providing constant sources of fresh air and light became important architectural features during the 1920s. NJHGC postcard collection.

Independent contractors operated the many concession stands and games, and in 1923 Kraus and Schleicher constructed the June Rose Ballroom, consisting of a steel frame and stucco building with a 100-by-50 foot dance floor with large windows to encourage cross breezes on warm summer nights.

The following year they built a 1,000-car parking lot, as well as the iconic Basket Pavillion — an open air cafeteria that gave visitors the option to purchase meals onsite or pack a picnic lunch. 

Basket Pavillion exterior at Bertrand’s Island showing a portion of the roller coaster at right, ca.1920. NJHGC postcard collection.

Early attractions included a hand-carved carousel, carnival games, Skee-Ball (a New Jersey invention), canoes and sight seeing boats, and a shooting gallery, in addition to dances and special events.

But Bertrand Island Park’s crowning achievement was its iconic wooden roller coaster, erected by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company in 1925. The towering structure consisted of 280,000 feet of lumber, was three quarters of a mile long, and featured nine dips and a 50-foot diameter loop. It overshadowed the park for nearly 60 years.

Groups frequently traveled to Lake Hopatcong by bus from New York, Connecticut, and all parts of North Jersey, and were a profitable segment of Bertrand’s Island clientele. Morristown officials at an outing, Aug. 16, 1916, Lake Hopatcong. NJHGC collection.

Kraus and Schleicher created additional rides for the 1925 season, including the Whip and the Aeroplane swing. Later, they opened the tunnel of love-style Old Mill ride, along with bumper cars, electric scooters, and more.

The park survived the long lean years of the Great Depression by remaining an attractive economical getaway for both New Jersey residents and people from the tri-state region.

Owners marketed Bertrand Island to church groups from the region, and to New York corporate- and motion picture studio employees and large Newark businesses looking to reward hard-working employees. 

“One Fun Park Will be Around,” 1969. NJHGC vertical file collection.

When Louis Kraus sold the park in 1948 to longtime concession operators Larry and Ray D’Agostino, the park poised for its second largest expansion, to take advantage of families seeking normalcy after nearly 20 years of economic stagnation and the destruction of World War II.

The D’Agostinos pivoted from dances and events to more rides and amusements, and wisely kept Mr. Kraus on to manage the park until his death in 1955. 

Daily Record article outlining upgrades to the park for the 1969 season. Proprietors Larry and Ray D’Agostino placed decades of hard work into operating the site and ensuring regular visitors always had something new to look forward to. “Bertrand Offers Better Rides for Less Gas,” ca.1975. NJHGC vertical files.

Bertrand Island Park entertained generations of New Jerseyans until 1983. By then, air travel and an efficient interstate highway system offered affordable alternative summer destinations for families, and massive corporate amusement parks like Disney World and Six Flags lured away more visitors.

Many locals continued to patronize the park, especially on evenings and weekends, but by the 1980s land values grew, as did insurance costs, and the growth of year-round residency in Hopatcong made the land more valuable to developers than vacationers. 

Map of Building Sites, on Lake Hopatcong, Sussex County, New Jersey. The Property of the Byram Cove Land Company. Map of lake and properties in Sussex County and Morris County, New Jersey, 1981. NJHGC map collection.

After operating the theme park for several years, its last owner, Gaby Warshawsky, sold Bertrand Island for subdivision into residential property.

Luxury townhomes occupied what was once the midway, situated along the bridge built by Charles Bertrand to connect the island to the mainland. Detached single-family homes filled in the rest of the park.

Bertrand Island’s legacy is expertly documented by the Lake Hopatcong History Museum, through its collections, programs and extraordinary series of historical articles. 

The summer getaway destination may be gone, but looking at old photographs from the late 19th century, you can imagine a cool evening breeze drifting over the lake shore.

Lake Hopatcong, N.J., ca.1900 – Detroit Publishing Company photograph, Library of Congress collection.

 Sources:

  • Martin and Laura Kane, Greetings from Bertrand Island Amusement Park, Arcadia Publishing; Charleston, SC, 2000.
  • North Jersey History & Genealogy Center (NJHGC) photograph, vertical file, and historic map collections.
  • Lake Hopatcong Historical Museum, lakehopatconghistory.com 
  • “Bertrand Island: One Fun Park Will be Around”, Daily Record, May 21, 1969.
  • “Bertrand Offers Better Rides for Less Gas”, Daily Record, ca.1978.
  • “How an Iconic New Jersey Carousel Landed at Disney’s Magic Kingdom,” NJ.com, July 20, 2015.

For a behind the scenes look at our collections and additional information on New Jersey history, follow us on Twitter @NJHistoryCenter and find our other MorristownGreen.com articles here.  


 

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