HAMILTON - In May 1907, in what was then considered the rustic outskirts of Trenton, 25,000 people descended upon the shores of 10-acre Spring Lake to partake in the opening of the electrically lit marvel known as the White City amusement park.

"It costs you $3 to reach Coney Island, Dreamland; $1.25 to reach Philadelphia's famous amusement resorts, and 5 cents to reach New Jersey's greatest amusement resort, the WHITE CITY," read an ad in the local paper soon after the opening.

"Acknowledged to be the most beautiful model and satisfying spot in the East - one that has received the endorsement of thousands of amusement-loving people," the ad read.

Today, nothing is left of the turn-of-the-century fantasyland in John A. Roebling Memorial Park, blocks from the bustle of South Broad Street, except the remains of an ornate stone staircase that ascended the bluffs to a mansion and trolley stop.

But recently, Mercer County and NJ Transit officials announced tentative plans to restore the lake and create a new recreation destination.

The proposed deal calls for dredging a 2-acre portion of the lake and clearing out the weeds, letting other plants flourish and making it inviting to boaters and fishermen, said county Planning Director Donna Lewis.

It also includes the purchase of the neighboring 58-acre property owned by the Rednor and Ranier families, known for having owned a South Broad Street car dealership more than 40 years.

The property would become part of the park, with the dredged sediment laid atop a small portion of the Rednor-Ranier land where decades-old construction debris lies, Lewis said.

For 16 years, the county and the families were frustrated by failed efforts to make a deal for the Rednor-Ranier parcel, said Barry Rednor.

But the construction of the Southern New Jersey Light Rail line appears to be putting the deal over the top.

Nicholas Marton, an NJ Transit program manager, said the agency is required to make up for the destruction of a small amount of wetlands by the project.

With a recent state Department of Environmental Protection report showing that efforts to create new wetlands often fail, the agency and county focused on restoring existing wetlands instead, Lewis said.

NJ Transit would pay to restore the lake and oversee the work. The county would buy the Rednor-Ranier property.

Anything that can be done to improve access for urban residents to the 1,250-acre Hamilton-Trenton Marsh, of which the lake is a part, is a plus, said Rider biology professor Mary Leck.

"It's a unique wilderness area in the middle of an urban environment," Leck said. "That's what's so special about it."

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The lake dates to the 1800s, created by erecting dikes to redirect water from area springs.

A piece written by Tom Glover for the Hamilton public library says in 1895 as many as 20,000 visitors a week would flock to what was then called Spring Lake Park, a quiet picnic nook with swings and a merry-go-round.

In 1907, the Trenton White City Co., with W. Meredith Dickinson as president and industrialist Ferdinand W. Roebling Jr. among its board members, opened the amusement park for $150,000. All its buildings, as the name suggests, were perfectly white.

There was a roller coaster, dance hall, scenic railway and attractions called Dream City, Katzenjammer Castle, Laughing Gallery and Mystic Maze to be enjoyed for a 10-cent admission. It even showcased a new innovation called moving pictures.

Yardville's Robert Simpkins, 96, who was a boy when the amusement park was in its horse-and-buggy heyday, remembers the long, steep staircase that has avoided destruction.

"It has such a rich heritage," Simpkins said. "Those old steps, I remember walking up and down. I was proud of that."

One had to climb those steps to take the "shoot the chute" water ride, which descended 200 feet to the lake. There, an abundance of rowboats, motor boats and canoes sailed about.

Now, only a handful of fishermen use the lake, parts of which are overrun by invasive duckweed and algae, and park signs are marred by graffiti.

Simpkins, who has produced "A Narrative History of Hamilton Township," remembers riding the "shoot the chute" when he was 10 and sister Anna was 3.

"She fainted," he said. "We went down that steep hill. She was out before we hit the water."

But, retired history professor Andy Cosentino said, the amusement park was gone by the 1920s, a victim of the mobility created by the rising popularity of the automobile.

The grounds, extending along McClellan Avenue from Sewell to Buchanan avenues, became overgrown by weeds, with lumber salvagers demolishing buildings from time to time, a newspaper account said.

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Plans for Spring Lake will come to the freeholders for approval.

At a recent board meeting, Freeholder Brian Hughes delivered hard questioning, demanding to know if there was a risk of dredging harmful substances from the lake bottom. He also was concerned about the kind of debris that lies on the Rednor-Ranier property.

Lewis and NJT's Marton said testing so far has shown no risk from the lake sediment or the debris on the Rednor-Ranier property.

Less than an acre of the Rednor-Ranier property would be used to dump sediment, Lewis said, and even that piece would be accessible to the public when it dried out in six to 12 months.

The Hamilton-Trenton Marsh, which stretches along Crosswicks Creek as far south as Bordentown Township and City, has a wealth of history and resources despite the power lines and Public Service Electric & Gas Co. generating station in its midst.

It boasts Mercer County's oldest home, the Watson House, built in 1706; the estate of Joseph Bonaparte, former king of Spain and brother of Napoleon; and the Abbott Farm National Historic Landmark, the largest Native American site in the Northeast.

The county had proposed in its capital budget a trail for hiking and biking through the Hamilton-Trenton Marsh to the Trenton Marine Terminal on Duck Island, Lewis said.

The state Department of Transportation already is doing preparation for a walkway connecting the marine terminal to the Waterfront Park baseball stadium, with local officials ultimately hoping to provide nature lovers a continuous path from the marsh to Stacy Park in Trenton, she said.

But the DOT's remediation of a former landfill alongside Route 129 in Hamilton has put the trail on hold for the foreseeable future, Lewis said.