

That’s evidenced by the huge number of boats on Lake Hopatcong on the weekends. The area abounds with recreation opportunities, making it a definite destination for outdoor activities. Much of that includes a trail system for hiking and biking, along with camping and picnic areas. Jefferson Township has the largest holdings of land for the Morris County Park Commission, with over 3,500 acres of protected land within the township boundaries. It’s just gorgeous! You have all these sub communities – Lake Shawnee, Lake Forest, Lake Winona, White Rock Lake, Cozy Lake, and Lake Swannanoa, just to name a few – and many of them are built up around lakes.” This area has been called the recreation capital of New Jersey, for good reason. “We encompass the largest shoreline of Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey’s largest lake. “What makes it unique is that we have Lake Hopatcong right in our backyard,” Wilsusen says. Jefferson Township is 42 square miles, located in the northwest corner of New Jersey in beautiful Morris County. The vast majority of people are permanent, here, now.”

And then over the years, they got converted to full-time homes. Wilsusen explains, “A Lot of these communities were built up around the lakes and were summer communities. Lemons, for sure.īut, slowly, they rebuilt, with cottages instead of hotels.

They all burned down.” Jefferson Township lost their tourist industry back then. Lake Hopatcong, at one time, was the place to come to just because of the hotels that were built up around the lake. “We used to have hotels that were so grand. “People came here to recreate,” states Mayor Eric Wilsusen, acknowledging the history of recreation on Lake Hopatcong that goes back to the 1800s. That’s something the folks in Jefferson Township, New Jersey have been doing for years. When life hands you lemons, they say to make some lemonade. Jefferson Township, New Jersey Lakeside Living at its bestīusiness View Magazine interviews Eric Wilsusen, Mayor of Jefferson Township, New Jersey, for our focus on Economic Development in U.S.
