The first "Then and Now" features a building that actually hasn't changed much over the years, though its uses have varied during its history, which spans more than a century. Then: What had been the Brown Farm became home to the Lake Hopatcong Country Club's nine-hole golf course in 1919, with the old barn being converted into the clubhouse. The course was expanded to 18 holes in 1931 when the club acquired the neighboring Davis Farm.
Now: The Hopatcong Board of Education purchased the land in 1959 for the high school and the course returned to being nine holes. It continued into the 1970s, and in 1976 the Borough of Hopatcong acquired the course. The land is now home to athletic fields, and clubhouse is now the Hopatcong Civic Center, where town activities take place and the Lake Hopatcong Commission occasionally holds its meetings.
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 resumes weekend hours in the fall.
