So my relatives on my mother's side of the family used to own a hotel called "The Lake View House" on Lake Hopatcong in New Jersey, some time around the late 1800's through to the early/mid 1900s.

There were some crazy happenings within the family including a sketchy nephew whose sisters mysteriously both fell down the stairs very close together in time when they were in line to inherit the hotel, and both of whom died in the hospital after visits from the suspect brother. Both sisters were on the mend and expected to survive and inherit the hotel. If I remember correctly, one of those sisters was my great grandmother.

Ultimately the brother (can't recall his name) inherited the hotel and for some crazy reason (probably the same reasons girls have the ability to get men to do anything) he signed over ownership of the hotel and property to his girlfriend. They broke up eventually, she took the hotel, and sometime since then it burned down - I believe.

Here are some relevant things I know.

1) Hotel named "Lake View House"
2) Accomodations for 150 (so I've read online)
3) Located on Lake Hopatcong
4) I believe located on Mt. Arlington, on the lake.
5) One of the prominent hotels, along with "The Breslin" at the time
6) The owner was named Fred Zuck, and the family name carried on through the time of ownership (my grandmother's maiden name - Evelyn Zuck). She eventually married Charles and took the surname Sommers (my mother's maiden name - Eva Marie Sommers). It was during my mother's childhood that the hotel shifted ownership (mid 1950s?) - She was born in the early 1940's.
7) There are mentions of the hotel in 3 NYTimes articles titled ("Interesting Sunday Tours for a Motor Car," "Hop At the Lake View House," and "Lake Hopatcong Doings - Long Round of Dinners, Driving Parties and Yachting Events.")

It seems that the olden day newspapers enjoyed listing the prominent people who were at events, even going in to some detail about the attire of the female party-goers. That's the majority of the content in a couple of the articles I've found and saved.

I'd love to find a picture of the hotel some day for my mother who spent her early years living there year round with cats and dogs, and plenty of guests and company in the summertime. I understand it was the kind of place where well-to-do families would often travel to and spend the entire summer, amongst other guests. Meals were served in seatings in the main dining room, and people would sit around drinking tea while watching people down on the lake, or playing croquet on the property.

If I understand correctly, there were even some living quarters on the property that had originally been designed as "slave quarters" through the only people who lived in there were the regular staff of the hotel.

So, after all that, does anyone have recommendations on how to get more information and perhaps even track down a picture or two of the property? I've Googled my head off without any more success than was listed above. I do have a little more family tree info and names, just not here at work.

Thanks in advance for any advice, and sorry for the long story

 

Have you tried finding records in the county where the lake is located, or the nearest town ?

 

In the movies the guy doing the research always travels to the neighboring small town and finds everything he needs in the archives of the local newspaper or library.

But guys in movies always have a lot of spare time and money to do that kind of sh*t, and the only archives that have records of every event tied to whatever it is you're researching are in the movies.

 

Not to be a smart ass, but isn't that what I've been doing? Or do you mean what Not_Sure said, and go to the town itself? It's about 2500 miles from where I live. I do know there is a Lake Hopatcong museum there, but I'm unsure if they will have anything from the Hotel...I suppose I could call!

I'm also having a tough time with finding out what county the hotel was in. I see various ones listed in different articles and online sources, which leads me to believe counties have changed over the years.

I love how in the movies people just shoot out on a small town newspaper budget to stay in a hotel for a week and find people who know things about the topic they're searching on. I'd do it myself, but I don't want to open a can of worms that will result in me being the target of a killer whose history I uncover in the process of finding my mom a picture

 

The lake museum on this website might be of some help, good luck! Have fun searching this out!


http://www.lkhopatcong.com/

 

Thanks! That was a site I was aware of, but I went ahead and called them.

Apparently there was some severe weather and the museum flooded, and is now closed for the spring. All the artifacts and exhibits were saved and moved off-site. I've emailed them to hopefully be pointed to some books or materials that reference the Lake View Hotel.

Additional point of info I've found, the hotel was located on the south shore of "The Great Cove", which is on the east side of the lake, and matches info I'd heard verbally that it was on the east.

Maybe I should post in the New Jersey forum...

 

Congrats this was the missing subject on S2ki preventing me from saying now I have seen everything on S2ki. Thanks to this thread I can now say it.


Now I have seen everything on S2ki!

 

You, good sir, are welcome.

Off Topic = Things completely from 2200 yards past the left field fence.

 

^

 

check the metro thread...