Sunrise Lake is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

and private lake community located in Dingman Township, Pike County in the state of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. The community is located along

Pennsylvania Route 739 Pennsylvania Route 739 (PA 739) is a Pennsylvania highway contained entirely within Pike County, Pennsylvania. It was signed in 1967, and runs for . Its northern terminus is at U.S. Route 6 (US 6) in Blooming Grove, running south to US 209 in ...

in eastern Pike County, about eight miles west of the

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

state line at the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

. Sunrise Lake is between, and shares borders with, the CDP communities of Conashaugh Lakes and Gold Key Lake. Sunrise Lake shares its name with the lake of the same name that the community surrounds. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,396 residents.

History of the area

Before humans, the land was under thousands of feet of ice during the

Wisconsin Glaciation The Wisconsin glaciation, also called the Wisconsin glacial episode, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex, peaking more than 20,000 years ago. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleated ...

. After melting glaciers left

kettle lakes A kettle (also known as a kettle hole, kettlehole, or pothole) is a depression or hole in an outwash plain formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters. The kettles are formed as a result of blocks of dead ice left behind by retreating g ...

such as nearby Gold Key Lake, the land was left rock-strewn and rough. Considered a part of the Glaciated Low Plateau section of Pennsylvania, the land is slightly varied in elevation with Sunrise Lake's main dam measured at 1309.8 feet above sea level Before the arrival of European settlers, the land now encompassing most of Pike County was the domain of the

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

people. The Lenape were expelled from the area after the

Walking Purchase The Walking Purchase, also known as the Walking Treaty, was a 1737 agreement between the family of William Penn, the original proprietor of the Province of Pennsylvania, and the Lenape native Indians. In the purchase, the Penn family and proprieto ...

of 1737, which placed a large amount of new territory under the control of the

Province of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn, who received the land through a grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania was derived from ...

. The land was next under conflict because it was claimed by settlers from

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, eventually fueling the

Pennamite–Yankee War The Pennamite–Yankee Wars or Yankee–Pennamite Wars were a series of conflicts consisting of the First Pennamite War (1769–1770), the Second Pennamite War (1774), and the Third Pennamite War (1784), in which settlers from Connecticut ( Yankee ...

s between 1769 and 1784. After the Revolutionary War, the former colony became today's

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryland to its south, West ...

and land began to be settled.

History of Sunrise Lake

Like many of the private lake communities in the area such as Gold Key and Woodlands, the land which is now Sunrise Lake was originally purchased by a private developer. Sunrise Lake was initially developed around 1964, when the lake was constructed from wetlands and the surrounding land subdivided into residential housing. In subsequent years the original developer illegally developed on wetlands and was penalized for it. A property owners' association was organized in 2009, following resident disapproval of the management of the community.

Schooling

The community is served by the

Delaware Valley School District The Delaware Valley School District is a midsized, rural, public school district located in Pike County, Pennsylvania. Delaware Valley School District encompasses 196.12 mi2 (507.9 km2), covering the Boroughs of Matamoras and Milfo ...

, with local schooling from Kindergarten through eighth grade.

Delaware Valley High School Delaware Valley High School in Milford, Pennsylvania, United States, is a high school that serves grades 912 and is located in Pike County. As of 2019, it serves 1,517 students. The school is operated by the Delaware Valley School District ...

in Westfall provides ninth through twelfth grade education.

Transportation

The community's main roads lead to Route 739. 739 leads north to Interstate 84 (the closest major highway), Route 434 and to

U.S. Route 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6) or U.S. Highway 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the United States Numbered Highway System. While it ...

. It leads south to the

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is a national recreation area administered by the National Park Service in northwest New Jersey and northeast Pennsylvania. It is centered around a stretch of the Delaware River designated the ...

and U.S. Route 209. Close minor roads include Quadrant Route 2001 or Milford Road (known locally as 01, "oh-one.") and Quadrant Route 2006, or Log Tavern Road, which is a route to

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

from just outside the community's main entrance. The nearest bus service is CoachUSA's service to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Port Authority Bus Terminal The Port Authority Bus Terminal (colloquially known as the Port Authority and by its acronym PABT) is a bus station, bus terminal located in Manhattan in New York City. It is the busiest bus terminal in the world by volume of traffic, serving ab ...

which stops in Milford. The nearest train service is in

Port Jervis, New York Port Jervis, named after John Bloomfield Jervis, a Roman civil engineer who oversaw the construction of the Delaware and Hudson Canal, is a city located at the confluence of the Neversink and Delaware rivers in western Orange County, New York, ...

Metro-North The Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company , also branded as MTA Metro-North Railroad and commonly called simply Metro-North, is a suburban commuter rail service operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a public authority of ...

's Port Jervis station.

References

{{authority control Census-designated places in Pike County, Pennsylvania Census-designated places in Pennsylvania