Lake Carnegie

As rowing grew in popularity at Harvard and Yale in the 1840s, it was not practiced much in Princeton as the University and town did not have a proper location for the sport. While the nearby Delaware and Raritan Canal was suggested, it proved impractical. At the urging of brothers Howard and William Butler, Class of 1876, Andrew Carnegie agreed to finance the construction of a lake. It took Carnegie at least three years to successfully purchase the land needed for this project, clear it and construct the bridges and dams. The project cost about $450,000. 

On December 5, 1906, Carnegie came to Princeton for the formal presentation of the lake. Students made banners to welcome him and chanted the song “Tammany” in his honor.

Carnegie, Carnegie

He is giving us a lake

You can hear the breakers break

Carnegie, Carnegie

Andy, Andy, you’re a dandy

Carnegie, Carnegie

While the lake provided an ideal location for recreational activities, Carnegie’s gift included hundreds of acres near the lake and campus which has since been used for University expansion.

Resources for Further Research

1. Princetoniana (Princeton University)
2. National Register of Historic Places
3. Princeton’s Lake Carnegie: A place for nature, a scene for activity by Morgan Kelly (Princeton University News, 2015)
4. Shea Rowing Center at Lake Carnegie (Princeton University)
5. Articles from the Papers of Princeton database:
   • Exhibition Celebrates 100th Anniversary of Lake Carnegie (Princeton University Weekly Bulletin, 2006)
   • Fascinating History of Lake Carnegie Traced by Dr. Spaeth at Ceremony in Honor of Donor (Daily Princetonian, 1935)
   • Lake Carnegie: A History (Daily Princetonian, 2003)
6. Titles in Princeton Public Library’s collection