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In 1951, the Alexander Summer Company of Teaneck, N.J. purchased a parcel of land on the east shore of the lake, (main lake), from the Sterling Forest Corporation. They laid out and started Forest Knolls.

Harold Conklin of Greenwood Lake was chosen as their builder, and as they wanted their homes to blend into the trees and forest, most houses ended up as log cabins.

These cabins were built of chestnut logs. Conklin had his men go into the woods and get these out. We had a chestnut blight, and most of the chestnuts were dead.

When taken out of the woods, they were grey in color, and had to be stripped down to bring them back to a natural wood look.

The logs were then varnished, and a trim of red or blue painted around the windows and doors. The inside of the logs were also varnished. Cement was put between the logs to fill the spaces.

Most of the houses in the development are the cabins, though a few frame houses were built, and they were supposed to be a color not in contrast to the others and the woods.

The roads were made wide and turned over to the town. The water system was owned by Summer for awhile and later sold to a private company. I believe at the present time the town is considering taking it over.

The lakefront lot is under the ownership and control of the association, and seems
to be well maintained.

The first Americans or Indians

The first settlers or humans that we know ere here in our area, have been given the designation of Paleo Indians, and from the artifacts found here , and from some remains of their fires, dates that time as being about 8,000-12,000 years ago.

The ice from the great "Ice Age", had not all melted, and the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean was fifty to one hundred miles out further than at present, and the growth of shrubbery at that time was what the animals wanted and ate, and these people and those of the next group found giant beaver, elk, moose, deer, mammoths, giant bear and buffalo.

The next group of people in our area have been designatied as the Early Archaic People and inhabited the area from about 8,000-2,000 B.C.

They also were hunters and were here after the animals for their food and skins, for clothing.

Next came the Woodland People who were here up to about 200 years ago. This would be the period from 1000 B.C. up to the time we know they left our area about the mid 1700's.

The Indians here were given the general name of the "Delawares" by the early settlers, for they lived from along the Delaware river to about Poughkeepsie. Thes people were farmers and hunters.

The tribe that lived at Greenwood Lake, which they called Long Pond, which would sound like "Papeek Guneu", in our language, were the Lenni Lenapes,, or as they prefer to be called, the Lenape, for they say that Lenni, means the same. They both mean "friendly people".

Here at the Lake, we know of three sites where they camped, along the north end of the main lake, in front of the present Furnace Brook and on the east side of the lake, in New Jersey, just before where the present Awosting is located.

During the past two drawdowns of the lake, I have found many artifacts of theirs, projectile points, spear heads, arrow heads, some parts of their pottery, smoothing stones, net sinkers and more.

The reason they were findable at that time is that the lake was much smaller and lower than at present, for it has been raised twice, and that has covered up much of their settlements.

The fact that there were three sites, does not mean that they were occupied at the same time, for they would live in an area, use up all the trees, game and probably fish, then take their belongings and move to another area. As they didn't have any way to carry much with them, they would leave some of their belongings behind, and if they were of stone or pottery, today they would still be in good condition and able to be found.

The First Whites

He first whites, that we know of in our general area came down from around New Windsor , near Newburgh, sometime in the 1700's, and settled in the area we still call "Dutch Hollow", which is probably about a mile north of the village of Greenwood Lake, and probably extended to somewhere near the high tension electric lines on "Lakes Road".

These people were "Dutch" farmer, and they found the ground good, built their houses in that area, and as far as we know got along well with the Lenapes.

It is alleged that sometime back then the Indians did go through the Valley and burn houses, but no proof exists.

The thing the Dutch couldn't understand, was that when the Indians came into their lands of homes, whatever they say that they wanted, they would take. The Dutch saw it as stealing, the Indian as the normal thing to do, for in his eyes whatever had belonged to you belonged to him as well.

It is true that there was a lot of friction between the two though not here, but I do have an original notice that was put up somewhere in this general area, that offers rewards for Indian scalps. It is dated 1755 and was printed in Boston, Massachusetts and no doubt was used in the New England area.

Cover bio (excerpted): "The author, Wilbur E. Christman, was born in Dunton (Jamaica), N.Y. in 1913. His family purchased a home in Greenwood Lake in the latter part of 1915, where they spent their summers from 1916 to 1918. Moving here in 1919, he has been a year round resident ever since".

The author founded Christman Real Estate (www.christmanrealestate.com) in 1941 which continues in the family with son Paul and daughter-in-law Patty being the owner operators.