Sunset Lake is a medium-sized

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

located in and near the city of Bridgeton in southern

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

(

Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom *Cumberland, historic county *Cumberlan ...

). The reservoir lies mostly in Hopewell Township and Upper Deerfield Township, with a small portion within the Bridgeton city limits. The lake was created by damming the

Cohansey River The Cohansey River, also called Cohansey Creek, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 river in South Jersey.. The river drains approximately of rural agricul ...

less than one mile upstream from the river's head of tide. The dam is located next to Park Drive, a major roadway that cuts throughout the city's park system and connects with Route 49. Originally, the lake was known as "Tumbling Dam Pond". The neighborhood of Sunset Lake is to the northeast of the lake in Upper Deerfield Township.

Sunset Lake (present day)

Sunset Lake is home to

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

rentals and a swimming beach (Stony Point Beach) operated by the City of Bridgeton Department of Recreation. The lake also offers picnic areas, a boat ramp (public access to Sunset Lake is provided from the Bridgeton City Park, just off County Road 607) at Piney Point (a peninsula that juts out into the lake), and opportunities for fishing. People can

kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...

or canoe in the lake and carry their boats across the road to the lake's outflow, the Cohansey River. Another canoeing option is the Raceway, a 19th-century earthen structure that was created as a mill race but since has been converted to recreational use. The Raceway meanders through the Cohanzick Zoo and dead-ends near Downtown Bridgeton (near the Nail House Museum). There is also a stream that one could take that feeds from Mary Elmer Lake (a nearby lake also in the Bridgeton Park System).

History

Sunset Lake was once the home of Tumbling Dam Park, situated at the southeast corner of Sunset Lake in Bridgeton. The park was located on the shore of the lake and started out as a boat rental and pavilion area for picnics during the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

. Eventually the park evolved to include early amusement park rides, like the one built by the local

Pretzel Amusement Ride Company The Pretzel Amusement Ride Company was an amusement ride manufacturer that produced a variety of rides, including an early dark ride known as The Pretzel, the company's namesake. It built over 1400 rides for carnivals and amusement parks. Name Th ...

, with a bowling alley, baseball fields, and concession stands. Notable celebrities of the time visited Tumbling Dam Park; among them were the Wright Brothers and

Annie Oakley Annie Oakley (born Phoebe Ann Mosey; August 13, 1860 – November 3, 1926) was an American sharpshooter who starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. Oakley developed hunting skills as a child to provide for her impoverished family in western ...

. The park was damaged during the Flood of 1934 but was repaired, only later to fall into disrepair in the 1950s. The park was eventually torn down and the land sold to developers who built houses on it. A

derecho A ''derecho'' (, from es, derecho, link=no , 'straight') is a widespread, long-lived, straight-line wind storm that is associated with a fast-moving group of severe thunderstorms known as a mesoscale convective system. Derechos can cause hurri ...

storm on August 13, 2011, caused the lake to rise and overflow its banks. Since the storm the spillway dam has been repaired, and the lake is now open and stocked with fish.

Wildlife

Sunset Lake is inhabited by various species of wildlife. Many

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked tu ...

s reside in the lake's waters, including

snapping turtle The Chelydridae is a family of turtles that has seven extinct and two extant genera. The extant genera are the snapping turtles, ''Chelydra'' and '' Macrochelys''. Both are endemic to the Western Hemisphere. The extinct genera are '' Acherontem ...

Geese A goose (plural, : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family (biology), family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser (bird), Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (the black geese). Some o ...

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

s, and

seagull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, m ...

s are the primary avian residents of the lake area. Aquatic residents include sunfish,

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

, and fresh water

clam Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two she ...

s along with

leech Leeches are segmented parasitic or predatory worms that comprise the subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the oligochaetes, which include the earthworm, and like them have soft, muscular segmented bodie ...

es.

Events

The city of Bridgeton hosts events from time to time at Sunset Lake: *Annual Pig King BBQ *Annual TriathlonSunset Sprint Triathlon & Duathlon Results 2007
. Lin-Mark Computer Sports. *Various shows, concerts, and plays conducted at the Amphi-theater

References

{{authority control Bridgeton, New Jersey Hopewell Township, Cumberland County, New Jersey Bodies of water of Cumberland County, New Jersey Reservoirs in New Jersey Upper Deerfield Township, New Jersey