Shongum is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

located within Randolph Township in Morris County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, United States. It is located near Shongum Lake. The community is located away from Mount Freedom, New Jersey. The first inhabitants of Shongum were the

Lenni Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory inclu ...

Indians who belonged to the Minsi tribe. They had six campsites and a rock shelter in the Shongum area and used the banks of the Den Brook as a pathway to a branch of the

Minisink The Minisink or (more recently) Minisink Valley is a loosely defined geographic region of the Upper Delaware River valley in northwestern New Jersey (Sussex and Warren counties), northeastern Pennsylvania ( Pike and Monroe counties) and New York ...

trail in Denville. The land was purchased by the Proprietors of West Jersey from the Indians in 1712.

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

, one of the Proprietors, received 2500 acres encompassing the Shongum area as a dividend in 1715. The name ''Shongum'' is derived from ''Shawanguck'' or ''Shawangung'', the Lenape word for "mountain".

Shongum Lake and Club

The Shongum Club (then called the Shongum Lake Club) is located on Shongum Road at Shongum Lake and was founded in 1879 by prominent gentlemen from the Dover-Morristown area, as a gathering place for men who liked to hunt and fish.A brief history of the Shongum Club
Accessed January 13, 2017. The club was dedicated to recreational activities and the clubhouse was leased from the Cutler family of Morristown. The clubhouse was probably built as early as 1853 and is still standing today. Shongum Lake had a reputation for having an abundance of black bass and small mouth bass, perch, pickerel, blue gills and crappies. The lake is not a natural one, and was created in 1758 by Robert Young, who had purchased the land from William Penn to operate an iron forge. The Den Brook was dammed up to create a lake which was fed with a constant supply of "the purest water". In 1884, the club had 50 members, the initiation fee was $25.00, and yearly dues were $10.00. The guest register was quite impressive containing the names of many very wealthy men and prominent politicians. There were congressmen, senators, educators including the president of

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

and even presidents who visited Shongum. During the depression, membership dropped and the Cutler family sold the club building after it had been in the family for 100 years. It became the property of Benjamin Bragman and was used as a dwelling. In 1974 it was acquired by the Shongum Lake Property Owners Association and is used once again for club functions and private parties.

References

Randolph, New Jersey Unincorporated communities in Morris County, New Jersey Unincorporated communities in New Jersey {{MorrisCountyNJ-geo-stub

Shongum Lake and Club

See also

References