Sunset Lake (New Jersey)
lake of the United States of America
Sunset Lake is a medium-sized reservoir located in and near the city of Bridgeton in southern New Jersey (Cumberland County). The reservoir lies mostly in Hopewell Township and Upper Deerfield Township, with a small portion within the Bridgeton city limits. The lake was created by damming the Cohansey River less than one mile upstream from the river's head of tide. The dam is located next to Park Drive, a major roadway that cuts throughout the city's park system and connects with Route 49. Originally, the lake was known as "Tumbling Dam Pond".
The neighborhood of Sunset Lake is to the northeast of the lake in Upper Deerfield Township.
Sunset Lake (present day)
Sunset Lake is home to canoe rentals and a swimming beach (Stony Point Beach) operated by the City of Bridgeton Department of Recreation. The lake also offers picnic areas, a boat ramp (public access to Sunset Lake is provided from the Bridgeton City Park, just off County Road 607) at Piney Point (a peninsula that juts out into the lake), and opportunities for fishing. People can kayak or canoe in the lake and carry their boats across the road to the lake's outflow, the Cohansey River. Another canoeing option is the Raceway, a 19th-century earthen structure that was created as a mill race but since has been converted to recreational use.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Sunset Lake (New Jersey)” as lake of the United States of America. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as lake of the United States of America. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7353695. Authority coordinates are 39.447, -75.236. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Sunset Lake (New Jersey)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Sunset Lake (New Jersey) primary sources, Sunset Lake (New Jersey) archive and Sunset research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Sunset Lake (New Jersey)”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Sunset Lake (New Jersey)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.