Lake Neighborhoods

NOSWAL
Noswal is an area located on the east shore of the Lake in a cove next to the Oscawana Marina; originally it was composed of several summer bungalows and a store operated during the 1930s and 1940s by the Lawson family (hence the name Noswal). Of great Lake lore are the stories of Babe Ruth who visited his manager, a Lake property owner, for several seasons and played baseball on a field near Noswal.

OSCAWANA COUNTRY CLUB
The Country Club area is at the north end of Lake. It is located on the site of former Camp Ruddy, which was used as an Olympics training facility some years ago focusing on swimming. There are various duplex cottages from the l950s and currently about fifty families enjoy the warmth and traditions of the community. Second generations of the original families continue to delight in using these homes during the warmer months of each year when concerts, dances and art events are here.

SOUTH END
Shortly before the Civil War a large hotel was built on the southwest shore of the Lake. This Oscawana Lake House had a hundred rooms, consisting of a main building and an annex (the road off West Shore Drive, now called Wren Place, was the driveway for Oscawana Lake House). The original owners, the Lee family, sold the property to Henry A. Sibenman. In the l920s the property again changed hands and Charles Waters became the new owner. In l931 a mysterious fire destroyed the complex, which was not rebuilt. Further to the south end of the Lake, at the junction of Lee Avenue and Sunset Hill Road, was a rooming house, The Maples. While the property was open to the public until the late l970s only one of the stone buildings now remains and it is being converted into a family residence.

WEST SHORE DRIVE
A narrow road hugging the West side of the Lake with homes tucked into private coves, West Shore Drive has been compared with the steep shouldered hills and valleys of the Lake Como region of northern Italy and is a warm reminder of the lakes of Austria. There is no road which completely encircles Lake Oscawana which allows West Shore to retain its privacy and neighborly feeling.

Most of the road has historically been devoted to single family homes. In the early 1900s, however, there were some resorts including The Garden, owned by Henry A. Sibenman, which had rooms for 40 guests and which supplied its boarders with food from the garden and chickens from its coops, and the Green Lantern, at the top of the large hill. In the l930s the Sibenman family began selling off some of its land encouraging the building of year-round homes on the Lake front. In many instances these houses have been passed along to succeeding generations of Lake residents. Summer and weekend visitors now stay at the Lake all year long. It is interesting to note that in our country, now, where people move from state to state and coast to coast with increased frequency and where fewer and fewer people call their current address home for more than a few years, Lake Oscawana has managed to shelter and draw back again, year after year, the children who grew up on its shores and who now have families of their own.

Districts

In addition to the Town Board which has responsibility for government operations there are a series of districts which have been established within Putnam Valley which address special services. As discussed below districts may cover a geographic area or be focused on a particular function. Each district has its own budget and provides certain services for the benefit of all the property owners. Around the shores of Lake Oscawana the improvement districts of Abele Park, Hilltop, Lookout Manor and Wildwood Knolls provide beach access and waste pick up. The district of Northview is deemed a park district. Each district has a contact person with whom the Town’s District officer coordinates activities – call the District office and find out the name of your representative and get acquainted if you do not already know that person.

Aquatic District

In l987 by resolution of the Town Board the Lake Oscawana Aquatic Plant Growth Control District was created to control various nuisance aquatic weeds through harvesting and removal and through an education program to encourage watershed management to minimize future growth. The good ship Harvester motors around the Lake during the spring and summer months cutting and removing growth and maintaining access channels for Lake residents.