It was built in the 1840s to regulate Sandburg Creek, which provided water to the summit of the Delaware and Hudson Canal 10 miles (16 km) to the southeast.

The 85-acre (34 ha) body of water it created eventually became known as Silver Lake, an attraction for visitors to the many Jewish summer resorts in Woodridge and neighboring communities.

[1] In the 1840s, improvements to the Delaware and Hudson Canal, which had been running through the town of Mamakating to the southeast for its first decade of operation, required a more reliable source of water for its crucial summit, or highest-elevation, section, between there and Napanoch.

[1] By 1895, as canal operations were winding down in the face of the displacement of that mode of transportation by railroads, which did not have to shut down in winter, records indicate the dam underwent major renovations and repair.

[2] The village sought and received state and federal grants to repair the dam and restore the lake, whose near-absence had hurt local business.