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Please scroll down to see all the pictures which are in not in chronological order.
Updates will occur often.

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Joseph Fagan Collection

 Picture taken probably before 1900. The faint image of the chute form the ice house (black building) can be seen to the left. This is looking towards where the carousel was before it was built. The boat house which would be to the right also has not been built yet. The small structure seen to the right was used in winter for ice skating before the boat house.

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Submitted by Tom Bohsen

Photo taken August 1970 showing the pool that was at the end of Crystal Lake near Prospect Avenue. From approximately 1954 until it closed around 1975 it was known as the Mountain Crest Swim Club.

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Submitted by Tom Bohsen

August 1970. The pool at Crystal Lake was once considered the largest in Essex County and only second in size to the one at Olympic Park in Irvington.

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Submitted by Tom Bohsen

Pictured here in August 1970 is Sonny Ferrara. He was the last owner of Crystal Lake. His family owned the land of the Mountain Crest Swim Club but leased it to the owners of the private swim club. James Ferrara his father, an Italian immigrant, had owned the land around the west and north side of the lake including the nearby restaurant the Crystal Lake Casino. The obituary of James Ferrara who died in 1949 is to the right.

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Joseph Fagan Collection

The poor quality black and white photo circa 1980 shows part of the graffiti laced abandoned ruins which was all that was left of the former Mountain Crest Swim Club. When the club closed the remaining buildings were neglected and left to the mercy of vandals as the property fell into a total state of disrepair. None of these building exist today.

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Joseph Fagan Collection

This picture is circa 1907 and looking from the ice house. The present day bowling alley would be to the extreme right.

 

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Submitted by Tom Bohsen

Another photo with a similar view taken August 1970. These photos best illustrate the sparkling blue pristine water which was filtered water from Crystal Lake which is feed by a natural spring. Also note the small private cabanas.

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Submitted by Tom Bohsen

August 1970. Crystal Lake and the bowling alley can be seen in the background under the umbrella to the right.

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Joseph Fagan Collection

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Submitted by Tom Bohsen

Photo taken during the summer of 1949 showing the Crystal Lake pool. The young man under the fountain is Tom Bohsen. His mother Agnes Fennell Bohsen worked at the entrance gate each summer for the Ferrara Family and later for Mountain Crest Swim Club from 1949 to 1958. This was considered the baby pool. The deep end was about 10 feet and had both a 3 foot and 10 foot diving board.

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Joseph Fagan Collection

McDonough Day at Crystal Lake August 25, 1924. The annual outing at Crystal Lake sponsored by West Orange Commissioner George McDonough. Children were bused in from all parts of West Orange for a day at the lake. This scene is at the Crystal lake Hotel.