Crystal Lake (New Rochelle, New York) facts for kids

Crystal Lake was once a busy lake in the village of New Rochelle, located in Westchester County, New York. It was also known as Jefferd-Leisler Mill Pond and Ice Pond. This lake was very important because it provided water power for the first mills in the area during colonial times. Stephenson Brook, which starts north of Paine Lake, fed the lake. The brook collected water from a large area near North Avenue.

Crystal Lake seemed to be a natural body of water near the end of the brook. It had two ways for water to flow out into Long Island Sound. One was where Stephenson Boulevard is today, and the other was on the east side of Lispenard Avenue. The water dropped sharply, about 20 to 25 feet, in just a few yards between the lake's southern edge and the Long Island Sound shore. This was the biggest natural drop of any stream flowing into the Sound between New York City and Connecticut. People quickly realized how valuable this drop was for creating power from water.

Early Mills and Factories

The land around Crystal Lake was first owned by John Jefferd. He was the first to use the lake's water power. Jefferd operated a saw-mill (for cutting wood) and a corn-mill (for grinding grain) until he passed away in the early 1700s.

Later, the land came under the ownership of Jacob Leisler. He made improvements to the lake, including building a special pool to power an overshot wheel at the mill. To do this, Leisler had to change the path of the Boston Post Road, a major road at the time. This new pool was located south of the lake. It required building new dams and moving the road over the lower dam. These changes made the lake's water level higher and flooded a larger area than the natural lake.

In 1734, Anthony Lispenard became the owner of the property. He built another saw-mill between the lake and the pool. This mill used the water as it flowed from the lake into the pool, before it went to the old grist-mill below. By 1750, this saw-mill was also changed into a grist-mill. After Lispenard's death, the lake, pool, and two mills were passed down through his family.

By 1806, the main milling industry started to move away from the area. However, Crystal Lake was still used to hold water for other businesses. These included a tannery (for making leather), a distillery (for making spirits), and a button factory. Sadly, the button factory burned down in 1846 while it was being set up as an ink factory.

The "Crystal Lake Ice" Business

After the factories closed, a new industry began: collecting ice from the lake when it froze in winter. In 1849, Thomas Andrews bought the lake and mill property to grow this ice business. Large ice houses were built south of the Boston Road. A special ramp was built across the road to move the ice.

This ice business became one of the most important in the region. The Brooklyn Ice Company bought all the ice for the markets in New York City and Brooklyn. The ice was transported by boats from a dock next to the ice houses. Because its waters were so clean, the lake became known as "Crystal Lake." The ice sold was marketed as "Crystal Lake Ice."

Health Concerns and the Lake's End

Over time, many people in the town became sick with fevers, and some believed the stagnant (still) water of Crystal Lake was the cause. It's hard to say if this was entirely true, as the town also had many undrained swamp lands that could have caused health problems. However, since the lake was no longer used for industry, its water stayed still for longer periods than before.

People became very concerned, and in 1864, there was an effort to have the Town Board of Health declare the lake a public nuisance. When this failed, the issue was brought to the State Board of Health. However, the State Board decided not to act. They found that the lake had many kinds of fish, just like other fresh water lakes in the state. Also, the ice sent to New York and Brooklyn was pure enough to pass the health tests in those cities.

Since these efforts to close the lake failed, John Stephenson, who had led the movement to get rid of the lake, bought the lake and the land around it himself. His estate, "Clifford," was nearby. After buying the property, the dams were taken down, and the water from the lake and pool was drained into Echo Bay.

The former lake bed became dry land. Stephenson Brook was then guided between stone walls to control its flow from the railroad tracks to the Boston Post Road. New streets were built over the old lake bottom, and the surrounding land was developed into homes and parks. In 1913, Stephenson School was built on a high piece of land that used to be an island in the middle of the lake, known as "Vineyard Island" for its wild grapes. Main Street was straightened and now runs over where the mill's old water supply used to be. The brook was put into an underground pipe and now flows under and along Stephenson Boulevard, and under Main Street, eventually reaching the bay.