Cranberry Lake was originally created in the 1830's. It was built to be a reservoir to supply water to the Morris Canal. People called it the Reservoir or Cranberry Reservoir before it was called Cranberry Lake.

There was a railroad that passed by Cranberry Lake. It was first a mule-powered railroad to carry iron ore from Andover to the canal at Waterloo. It was called the Sussex Mine railroad. The railroad opened in the early 1850's. Soon after, it was changed to a steam railroad. The name was changed to the Sussex Railroad. The Lackawanna Railroad bought the Sussex Railroad before the end of the 19th century. The Lackawanna Railroad discovered that Cranberry Lake would be a great place to run excursion train trips.

The Lackawanna Railroad leased land at Cranberry Lake and built an amusement park, the first bridge crossing the lake from the Cranberry Lake train station to the amusement park, and the Cranberry Lake Hotel. The amusement park was located in the present day Frenches Grove section of the lake. The bridge was at the site of the current day bridge that you can see from Route 206. The hotel was located where today's Cranberry Lake clubhouse stands behind the Adam Todd Inn. The hotel opened around 1903, and was open for less than ten years. It was basically used by the people visiting the amusement park. The hotel burned down in 1910. They say that the fire was caused by a stove. Luckily, no people were hurt. When the neighboring fire department got to the hotel, the only thing left was the ashes. By the time the hotel burned down, the railroad had already decided to stop excursion trips to Cranberry Lake, and they closed the amusement park.

In the 1920's, Cranberry Lake became a vacation spot for many city people. They formed a community club and built the Cranberry Lake Community Club Clubhouse. The clubhouse was opened in 1925. The community club is still active and enjoyed by many today.

When we asked Mr. Dennis what he likes best about Cranberry Lake he replied, I like the combination of the mountains, the lake and the wildlife in the area. People can hunt and hike there. There is a natural part of Cranberry Lake called The Old Lake where there are a lot of Lilly pads and wildlife. We also asked Mr. Dennis what he likes least about the lake. He said, I get upset by all the litter and garbage that people throw along the roads.

Mr. Dennis thinks the most historic area of Cranberry Lake is the shoreline by the present day clubhouse and the dam area. He explained to us that there is evidence that Indians camped here because people have found so many arrowheads along the shoreline. When they used to lower the lake, people would go and look for arrowheads along Rose's Beach.

We asked Mr. Dennis if he liked the lake better when he was a child growing up there or now. He answered that he likes it both ways for different reasons. When he was a child not many families lived at the lake in the winter. You were able to sleigh down the center of the roads because there was not traffic and the roads were not plowed or salted. Mr. Dennis likes it now because it is still in the country. There are still many nice families living here, and the community club keeps the area very nice too.