These days, it's the Royal Wave Marina, but the Hockenjos sign remains—one of the structure's longtime identities, and a vestige of the building's storied past on Lake Hopatcong. Then: Kenvil Lumber and Store was orignally located on Espanong Road. A new store was built directly on the lake's shore for the 1910 season. Billed as "the Venice store," customers could drive boats directly into the general store and buy such diverse items as home furnishings, lumber, meat, vegetables, groceries, clothing, drugs, gasoline, and cigars. The store also made deliveries around the lake.
Now: Kenvil Lumber and Store moved back to its Espanong Road location in 1928 and became predominantly a lumberyard and hardware store. For many years, it operated as Jefferson Lumber. The building on Lake Hopatcong became the home of Hockenjos Marina for decades, and although the buliding has been altered, it remains an active marina, the Royal Wave.
This and dozens of other "Then and Now" images and stories are available in an updated version of Lake Hopatcong: Then and Now by Marty Kane, president of the Lake Hopatcong Historical Museum. Purchase that and other lake-related history books here on the museum's website. And see hundreds of photos and other historical paraphernalia at the museum, which is located in Hopatcong State Park and is open on Sundays, from noon to 4 p.m., through the fall.
