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Joseph Bonaparte, former king of Naples and Spain and brother of Napoleon , fled Spain around 1814 and came to the United States. He built a mansion, "Point Breeze", near Bordentown, New Jersey and then had his two daughters, Charlotte and Zenaide, and Zenaide's husband and cousin, brought to New Jersey from Brussles. His wife, Queen Julie, was unable to travel due to medical reasons. In 1818 he also found refuge in northern New York where he purchased 150,260 acres. He met Annette Savage, a Quaker woman in Philadelphia, and had two daughters, Caroline Charlotte and Pauline Josephe Anne, with her. Joseph Bonaparte spent his winters in Philadelphia and summers back and forth between New Jersey and Lake Bonaparte where he also had a hunting lodge, the Hermitage, built. Nearby in Natural Bridge, Bonaparte had a more permanent house built to use while spending time in the North Country, and also a stone house at the village of Evans Mills for Annette Savage. Lake Bonaparte was named in honor of Joseph Bonaparte, though Bonaparte called the lake, "Lake Diana", and also named the town of Diana after Diana the goddess of the hunt. Joseph left the United States for the 1830 French Revolution and went to London and later to Italy where he died n 1844 with his wife by his side. The mansions in New Jersey and New York are no longer standing.
Lake Bonaparte has two public marinas, a public swimming area and a state boat launch. Bullheads, walleyes, great northern pike, perch, rock and black bass are all found in the lake. The lake is spring fed and over two miles long. It covers 1,286 acres with twenty-four miles of shoreline.
