Silver Lake
by Melanie Goldenbaum
I remember very little about the time I spent in elementary school. I do, however, remember the fun stuff—the friends made and the games played at recess. I don’t remember too many of the lessons from our textbooks, but I do remember the days we became archaeologists and dug for bones in a sandbox. I remember almost every school field trip because it was exciting to be out of the classroom for a whole day, and I truly cherished those days. When I was in the fourth grade we went to the Silver Lake Nature Center on a field trip. As we hopped off the bus, birds were chirping and the wind rustled through the leaves on the trees that towered above us; nature was all around. We learned about organisms that live in ponds and walked the trails while imagining we were in an enchanted forest.
Walking through the doors of the Nature Center, I felt relaxed and welcomed. The building itself gave me a sense of warmth and comfort. I wondered why this building felt so comfortable, until I learned that it used to be a house—the home where local historian and photographer Clarence King grew up. “It was our Nature Center. Offices were in the kitchen, the living room was our big exhibit room. In 1991, a little more than twenty years ago, we finished building what is now the Nature Center and moved in,” said Robert Mercer, the director of the Nature Center and a naturalist.
Born on his family’s land in 1934, King explained, “I was born and raised here. I lived here for twenty-five years and then I went off and got married, had kids. One time I was in Florida, reading the newspaper and I read a story about an area that the Nature Conservancy owned. I came home and picked up the newspaper and here they’re buying Delhaas Woods. I thought, ‘Wow, they’re going to save my playground.’ I think it was probably right after that time I started to hang out here,” King said. Since that time, around the late 1980s, King has been volunteering for and also takes scenic photos of Silver Lake.
The Silver Lake Nature Center opened part time to the public, for the summers only, in 1966. It opened year round in 1972 and has been that way ever since. The story of Silver Lake dates back to the 17th century. Incredibly, Silver Lake was manmade as a pond in 1689 when dams were placed on the Otter and Adam’s Hollow Creeks to provide power for the mills in Bristol. The lake was purchased by the Bucks County Department of Parks and Recreation from the Pennsylvania Fish Commission in 1957. Today, situated on 235 acres, the two sections of the Silver Lake Nature Center, Silver Lake and Delhaas Woods, are divided by Bath Road in Bristol.