History of Sparkle Lake
Sparkle Lake is located on farmland owned by the Hyatt family from 1861 until 1926, when it was purchased by Frederick Merk for $19,000. The Hyatt farmhouse still stands on Granite Springs Road, south of the lake, and is owned by descendants of the Merk family. The farm comprised 162 acres of beautifully rolling pastureland, with a small apple orchard and a brook flowing through the middle. The brook had been dammed in one spot to provide water for the cattle, resulting in a small pond. Mr. Merk enlarged the pond and named it "Sparkle Lake."
Frederick Merk approached the business aspect of Sparkle Lake in two ways: as a campground/resort operator and as a developer. In 1928, Merk distributed flyers encouraging camping at "Merk Farm." In addition to the lake and camping facilities, the flyers detailed plans for future development around the lake. The original plans for the "Sparkle Lake Subdivision" were also filed during 1928, and the houses surrounding the lake were built primarily during the 1940s (some with surplus lumber from the 1939 New York World's Fair). Contrary to common perceptions, the houses surrounding Sparkle Lake were constructed as year-round residences. The owners of the homes in the original subdivision were granted deeded lake rights, and a private beach was developed on the west shore for their use.
Elizabeth Merk Williams remembers her arrival at her family's new home: " We moved from New York City in April 1926 and the trucks got stuck in the mud. They unloaded into the barn at the end of Broad Street, it was Broadway then...There were two barns which the town removed when the present building was built. We used one barn as a snack bar and the other for dressing rooms." (Editor's note: these facilities were still in use during the 1960s, prior to the town's acquisition of the property.)
Mrs. Williams continues: "The farmhouse was heated by stoves -- one in each room. We were told it took one person's entire time keeping the stoves fed. There were two chimneys, one on the north side and one on the south side. Over the years these were removed, leaving just one for the furnace...I remember one very cold winter when we sat on the stairs to keep warm."
Describing her father constructing the lake, Mrs. Williams said: "The soil was scooped [by a drag shovel] from the sides and dumped at the dam site...then several years later my Dad hired a [steam] shovel to build the dam to its present level."
The Merk family continued to operate the Granite Springs beach as a swimming, picnic and family recreation area until the 1960s. In 1962 an appraisal of the Sparkle Lake property by Frank Riley Jr., a real estate broker in Peekskill, was submitted to Town Supervisor John H. Downing. The appraisal valued the property at $187,000. The Downing administration approached the purchase with caution, apparently concerned about the lake rights possessed by the residents of the Sparkle Lake subdivision. Finally, the town did purchase the lake in 1966, opening the Granite Springs beach for the exclusive use of town residents and their guests. The barns which housed the snack bar and dressing rooms were removed, and the service building was constructed. (The Parks and Recreation Headquarters building was built by Dr. and Mrs. Williams in 1949, where they resided until August 1965.)
Today, Sparkle Lake Park is a premier facility of the Town of Yorktown, providing recreational activities and preserving wetlands and open space. Yorktowners enjoy swimming and fishing in the lake, picnicking on the grounds and relaxing amid the plentiful wildlife in the park.
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Sparkle Lake in 1962
Note the dock and
raft used by swimmers when the beach was operated by the Merk family. |
