Independence Day in Mountain Lakes

Fireworks displays have been part of Mountain Lakes’ Independence Day celebrations since 1919, when the first “exhibition of fireworks” was provided by the Rochester Fireworks Company, featuring “over 160 displays.” At that time, the small but growing community of Mountain Lakes had been in existence for only eight years, and was still officially part of Hanover Township (which presumably had its own municipal July 4 celebrations).

Turning Back the Clock

The first Mountain Lakes American Independence Day activities were held in 1912, featuring a small but spirited parade from the Mountain Lakes Club down the Boulevard into Boonton, where the two communities enjoyed joint activities (including a baseball game between teams of married men from each respective locality). During the Second World War, when resources were reallocated to the war effort, fireworks displays in Mountain Lakes were replaced by displays employing firehoses shooting water fountains into the air, with different colored light filters providing the changing illumination effects.

The main focus of the Mountain Lakes festivities in those early years was parades, concerts, special sporting events, including tennis tournaments, swimming and canoeing competitions on the “Big Lake,” and dancing into the wee hours at the Mountain Lakes Club, which was on that day open to all for the special occasion, and all avidly covered by the local newspapers. July 4 celebrations at the Mountain Lakes Club, established in 1914, had begun by 1915 at the latest and became a town tradition that continued for over a century (the Mountain Lakes Club was closed in 2024).

Swimming races between the Club and Island beach, as well as sailing and canoe races, continued as part of the festivities, even as the parades, orchestra concerts, and dances faded into history. “Canoe tilting” (now better known as “canoe tipping”) contests on Mountain Lake were also held in the early years, and organized baseball games pitting teams of married men against unmarried opponents became an all-Mountain Lakes contest.

All About Fireworks

Traditionally, the Mountain Lakes fireworks were launched from Island Beach, which would be closed to the public for the evening, though using a barge on the lake was first tried, with some success, in 1920. Newer technologies and equipment now launch the projectiles from stationary docks temporarily moved into the lake, roughly between Island Beach and the Midvale Boat Dock, so that viewing is available all along the shore, with Island Beach again open to the public.

In 1919, a new practice was begun with the houses on Mountain Lake lighting at a prescribed time prior to the fireworks displays candle-equipped “Japanese” lanterns, ringing the entire shoreline with light. Later, the Standard Railway Fusee Corporation, which operated a railroad safety flare manufacturing company at a facility on the corner of Fanny Road and Morris Avenue (and now operates as Orion Safety Products, of Easton, Maryland), donated railroad flares to the town for the shoreline illumination. After the company closed the Fanny Road location (now the location of the Legacy Townhouses), paper bag luminaries were used, and, due to perceived risk of fire, this practice was switched to battery-powered lights, and ultimately discontinued.

The July 4 celebrations in Mountain Lakes still represent one of the social highlights of the year in town, as lakeside homes host often boisterous annual firework-watching parties, and also serve as launching facilities for the flotilla of overflowing canoes, (sail-less) sunfish, and other watercraft (some carrying extra refreshments) filled with intrepid mariners vying for the best viewing sites on the lake itself. Party-hopping by boat, or walking along Lake Drive provides more opportunities for casual paddling or strolling and socializing before and after the fireworks, on the lake and ashore.

One 112 years after the first parties in town, the Mountain Lakes Fourth of July experience is as special as ever.