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Senator Robert H. Gittins
was the founder and first president of Ramapo Heights Corporation,
the original developer of Pine Grove Lakes, then known as Ramapo
Mountain Lakes. Mr. Gittins was also a lawyer, a U.S.
Congressman and a New York State Park Commissioner (see
Congressional Biography, below).
In 1935, Mr. Gittins formed the "Ramapo Heights Club," a private sportsman's preserve, out of the mountain wilderness. The Club existed until 1939. Click here for a map of the original Ramapo Heights Club.
In 1939, Mr. Gittins abandoned
the Club and formed the homeowners' association with the execution
of our first Declaration
of Covenants. According to Mayor Carl Wright, Gittins' stated vision
was to create a "poor man's Tuxedo Park." The groundbreaking
occurred on February 23, 1939. Click here
to see it, along with a picture of Mr. Gittins.
Along with his family, Mr.
Gittins built what we now know as the Pine Grove Lakes
community. According to Clarence Conklin, a Sloatsburg
resident since 1908 and a well-known local historian,
Mr. Gittins and his brother excavated and constructed the
two lakes that we now know as Pine Grove Lake and Mirror Lake.
Unfortunately, Mr. Gittins brother died in an accident during the
construction of one of the lakes. Mr. Gittins resided at 5
Allen Place (on The Green) until he passed away on
December 25, 1957.
Congressional Biography
GITTINS, Robert Henry, a
Representative from New York; born in Oswego, Oswego County, N.Y.,
December 14, 1869; attended St. Paul's Academy, Oswego, N.Y.;
engaged in the lumber, grain, and coal business; was graduated from the
law department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1900; was
admitted to the bar in the States of Michigan and New York in 1900 and
commenced the practice of law at Niagara Falls, N.Y., in 1901; member of
the State senate 1911-1913; delegate to the Democratic National
Convention in 1912; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-third Congress
(March 4, 1913-March 3, 1915); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in
1914 to the Sixty-fourth Congress; owner and publisher of the Niagara
Falls Journal 1914-1918; postmaster of Niagara Falls, N.Y., from October
16, 1916, to January 21, 1920; resumed the practice of his profession;
appointed commissioner of the State reservation at Niagara Falls in 1918
and served until 1940; moved to New York City in 1923 and continued the
practice of law until 1956; resided in Sloatsburg, Rockland County,
N.Y., until his death December 25, 1957. Source: Biographical
Directory of the U.S. Congress.
Thanks to Mayor Carl Wright,
Clarence Conklin & Daphne Rich for contributing this information. If
anyone else has information to share about the history of PGL, please
.
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