Department of Military and Veterans Affairs

New Jersey Historic Trust Affiliated with the Department of Community Affairs

Mountain Lakes Dams

Garden State Historic Preservation Trust Fund
Historic Site Management Grant
Grant Award: $50,000 (2004)
Grant Recipient: Township of Princeton
County: Mercer
Municipality: Princeton

The significance of this 80-acre site relates to its five decades of use as an ice making facility.  The lower earth dam, constructed in 1884 and upper masonry dam, built in 1902, are the only intact structures of an ice making enterprise that included ice and hay storage facilities, cutting equipment and conveyors.  There are partial foundations of several buildings, a toppled brick chimney, stone culvert and potential for additional archaeological discovery.  The site is currently part of the township’s park system, actively used for hiking and recreation.

The Trust grant helped fund structural investigations, materials analysis and engineering design documents to address sensitive preservation solutions for the two dams. Funding also helped with the design and construction of wayside signs that exhibit historic images and interpret the hstory and archaeology of the site.

For more information, visit:  http://www.princetontwp.org/mtnlakes.html

 


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