Summary
Overview
Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library.
Historical Photograph Collection, Lake Carnegie Construction Photographs
4.47 linear feet, 15 boxes, 479 5″ x 7″ glass plate negatives, 10 boxes, 479 contact prints made from these negatives, 1.5 boxes, 314 black and white prints of various sizes made circa 1905-1907, 1.5 boxes, 38 amateur photographic prints, 0.5 boxes, 36 glass plate negative boxes, 1 records center box, 2 photograph album boxes, 0.3 boxes
Abstract
The Lake Carnegie Construction Photographs of the Historical Photograph Collection contains 479 dry gelatin glass plate negatives measuring 5 x 7 inches that document the construction of Lake Carnegie in Princeton, NJ. There are also 314 black and white paper prints developed at approximately the same time the glass plate negatives were made, 38 amateur photographs, and the 36 original glass plate negative boxes. The negatives and prints date from circa 1905 to 1907, with the bulk dating from 1905 to 1906. As a part of this project, funded in part by the New Jersey Historical Commission, archival contact prints (5 x 7 inches) of each negative have been created for research use and photo duplication. In addition to the glass plate negatives, original prints, and contact prints made from these negatives, there are 38 photographs taken from March through May 1905, early in the project, before any construction work had begun. These are amateur photographs, most likely taken with a Kodak Brownie camera. While many of these images are faded and soiled with fingerprints, many of the subjects are identified. There are also 7 amateur photographs and two photograph albums of unknown or uncertain provenance.
Description
Description
The collection contains 479 dry gelatin glass plate negatives measuring 5 x 7 inches that document the construction of Lake Carnegie in Princeton, NJ. There are also 314 black and white paper prints developed approximately at the time the photographs were taken. The negatives and prints date from circa 1905 to 1907, with the bulk dating from 1905 to 1906. In addition, there are 38 amateur prints taken in March through May 1905 depicting the land before any construction work commenced, and two photograph albums containing construction images.
It is not known who took the photographs that document the construction of Lake Carnegie, but there are several possibilities, and because there appears to be more than one negative numbering system there may have been more than one photographer. The engineer of the lake project would have overseen the taking of photographs, and upon the death of J. J. R. Croes a great deal of photographic equipment and supplies were inventoried in his office. However, it is unlikely that Croes took the photographs himself; as engineer of the entire Lake Carnegie project he would probably have hired a photographer. F. P. Gridley, who worked as foreman and timekeeper of the lake project, owned copyright of the photographic souvenir booklet published for the lake's opening celebrations (1906), but Gridley is never mentioned in the records of the lake project as the photographer. James M. McKenzie writes to Alexander Gulick that he was making a complete photographic record of the work done on the lake, but because McKenzie also writes to Gulick of “the photographer” or “his photographer” at various points, it does not seem likely that McKenzie took these photographs. At the end of December 1906 McKenzie wrote to Gulick that a photographer by the name of Hazard was going to come to take photographs of the lake. This must refer to E. W. Hazard, and there is one photograph taken by E. W. Hazard of the Delaware & Raritan Canal in the Historical Photograph Collection - Grounds and Buildings Series - Lake Carnegie. Hazard may have taken some of the construction photographs, although he did not sign any of the negatives or prints found in the negative boxes as he did the photograph of the Canal.
As mentioned above, there appears to be more than one system of numbering the Lake Carnegie glass plate negatives. In some instances there are duplicate negative numbers, and some negatives have what appears to be a date indicated on the negatives. For example, a negative in the box identified as “Washington Street July” is labeled “864 7/3.” This may indicate that the photograph was taken on July 3, but this is not certain and should not be taken at face value.
Collection Creator
History
The Historical Photograph Collection - Lake Carnegie Construction Photographs provides photographic documentation of the construction of Lake Carnegie beginning in the spring of 1905 and ending in the winter of 1906-07.
The construction of Lake Carnegie was conceived during a conversation between Howard Russell Butler (Princeton University, Class of 1876) and the Scottish-American industrialist Andrew Carnegie. While traveling on the “Dinky”—the train shuttle that travels between Princeton Junction and Princeton University—Butler mentioned to Carnegie that while he and his crew teammates rowed on the narrow and heavily trafficked Delaware & Raritan (D & R) Canal, they had fantasized about clearing out the marshes and damming up the area of Stony Brook and the Millstone River between Princeton and Kingston. The idea intrigued Carnegie, who had “built” a number of lakes, or lochs, in Scotland; he asked Butler to determine the costs of such a project, and ultimately provided funding. Carnegie offered the lake as a gift to the University. Woodrow Wilson, president of Princeton at the time, had planned to ask Carnegie to help fund the new residential college system, but accepted Carnegie's offer with the statement “we asked for bread, he gave us cake.”
Lake Carnegie was built along Stony Brook and the Millstone River on what were approximately 300 acres of marsh and swamplands to the south of the Princeton University campus between Princeton and Kingston. The Lake begins at the point where Alexander Road, Stony Brook and the Princeton Basin converge and stretches three and a half miles to the old Kingston Mill where the Millstone River continues north. To build the lake it was necessary to clear all trees and growth from the land, and then excavate a depth of one to two feet. The water in the lake measures up to 12 feet in depth, and the width of the lake varies from approximately 400 to 1000 feet. The widest point is where Harry's Brook enters the lake. A 650-foot dam was built just south of the Kingston Mill. The Delaware and Raritan Canal runs parallel along the length of the south side of the lake.
Four bridges were built as a part of the lake project. Two bridges over 400 feet long were built to provide passage over Lake Carnegie: one at Washington Road and one at Harrison Street. And two bridges - one 140 feet long and one 50 feet in length - were constructed at what, in 1905, was called Aqueduct Village, to cross the Millstone River at the Trenton-New Brunswick Turnpike (now called U.S. Route 1). The decision was made to dismantle the original steel bridge at Harrison Street and reuse it for one of the bridges crossing over the Millstone River at Aqueduct Village. With the construction of these bridges, new roads were built and old roads rebuilt as the boundaries of the lake dramatically altered the flow of traffic in the area.
Numerous press releases and stories described the new scenic seven-mile drive made possible by the lake project. One could now drive down Washington Road from the corner of Nassau Street to the Washington Road Bridge. At this point one turned onto a new road, known today as Faculty Road. Taking Faculty Road, one drove through the Olden woods, followed the old cart track, and went through what had been the Lombard property to Harrison Street, where one drove across the new Harrison Street Bridge. Following Harrison Street across the lake and into what was called Aqueduct Village, one turned north onto the Trenton-New Brunswick Turnpike (U.S. Route 1) to what is now called Plainsboro Road, to Kingston Road, and then to Mapleton Road (which had been moved to higher ground). One then drove along Mapleton Road into Kingston, turned onto the old Turnpike Road (now Route 27) and, traveling along the western shore of Lake Carnegie, drove back into Princeton. A “winding walk” of about three miles was constructed along the west and north shores of Lake Carnegie as well.
The responsibility of overseeing the construction of Lake Carnegie first fell to Howard Russell Butler. In July 1905 this job was transferred to Alexander R. Gulick. The Engineer of the lake project was a civil engineer from New York, J. J. R. Croes, who worked in this capacity from January 31, 1905 until April/May 1906 when he suddenly died. James M. McKenzie, Croes's first assistant, then took on the responsibilities as head engineer of the project. The general contracting work was performed by the Hudson Engineering & Contracting Company of New York, NY, as was the construction of the bridge at Washington Road. The bridges at Harrison Street and the Trenton-New Brunswick Turnpike (U.S. Route 1) were built by the American Bridge Company.
Access and Use
Access Restrictions
The glass plate negatives have been rehoused and retired from use. Research will be conducted using the archival contact prints, and reproductions will be made from these new paper prints. The paper prints developed circa 1905-1907 will be available for research use, and are housed as a separate series with the contact prints.
Use Restrictions
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the University Archivist. Copyright is held by the Trustees of Princeton University.
Preferred Citation
Historical Photograph Collection, Lake Carnegie Construction Photographs; circa 1905-1907, Princeton University Archives, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
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Related Material
Facilities - Lake Carnegie Construction Records.
Historical Photograph Collection - Campus Life Series.
- Administrative - Celebrations - Dedications and groundbreaking ceremonies of University buildings and grounds - Carnegie, Lake.
- Social and Residential Life - Athletics - Crew.
- Social and Residential Life - Extracurricular - Boating.
- Social and Residential Life - Extracurricular - Ice-Skating.
- Social and Residential Life - Pranks, stunts, and fights - Swimming Lake Carnegie.
Historical Photograph Collection - Campus Life - Oversize Photos - Crew.
Historical Photograph Collection - Grounds and Buildings - Carnegie, Lake.
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