High Point was privately owned for many years and in the early 1900s served as the summer estate of Anthony Kuser and his wife, Susie Dryden Kuser, while Senator John F. Dryden, founder of Prudential Life Insurance, also owned much of the land. As devoted conservationists, the Kusers and Drydens decided their estates should become a public park. High Point State Park was dedicated in 1923 as a nature reserve for the public and to protect wildlife and water resources, becoming one of New Jersey’s first state parks and a model for others. From 1933 to 1942, the Civilian Conservation Corps, part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, operated a camp there, and Companies 216 and 1280 made many lasting improvements, including Park Ridge and Sawmill Roads, Sawmill and Steenkill Lakes, extensive trail work, and three Appalachian Trail shelters. High Point still retains much of its early 1900s appearance and remains close to the original plan prepared by the Olmsted Brothers and carried out by the Civilian Conservation Corps and the High Point Park Commission. In recognition of this early park design, it was placed on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places in 1996.
