Up until the end of World War I, Putnam Lake was a small rural hamlet called Valleyville, consisting mainly of dairy farms.

In the years leading into the Great Depression, failing farms were bought by developers McGolrick Realty Co. in association with Warren and Arthur Smadbeck, to create a recreational community for New York City citizens.

In 1930, the State Line Golf and Country Club in association with the Smadbecks' New York Daily Mirror Holding Co. bought five farms, totaling 1,111 acres (4.50 km2) of land in Patterson, encroaching New Fairfield, Connecticut.

The area around Putnam Lake was divided into 11,000 plots, each 20 by 100 feet (6.1 by 30.5 m), which were to be occupied by summer cottages, general stores, restaurants, gas stations, dance pavilions, and taverns.

Some families made Putnam Lake their year-round residence, and a school house was constructed where the Veterans of Foreign Wars building now stands on Fairfield Drive.

The PLCC once provided paved roads, electricity, and fire protection, as well as social and recreational activities for Putnam Lake families including the community swimming pool, clubhouse, and tennis court.

In May 1952, Memorial Field, to be dedicated to the Putnam Lake casualties of World War II, was proposed to replace the swimming pool, which had not been used since the early 1930s because it was contaminated with seepage and infested with leeches.

Construction proceeded through the leadership of Henry Sherer, and in 1955, Edward Angerola, chairmen of the Memorial Field committee.