Things to do / Travel Guide
The Jersey Shore's colorful past is best explored by looking at the histories of the region's most popular resort towns: Atlantic City and Cape May. But the unique and diverse histories of the smaller, northern Jersey Shore communities are also quite interesting. Each town along the northern section of the Jersey Shore has its own, unique history. Whereas today roadways and boardwalks link the towns, the communities were once tiny resort enclaves, pioneering their own boom and bust stories.
Sandy Hook/Atlantic Highlands
Before the Dutch and British colonists paid any attention to the Atlantic Highlands area, the Algonquin and Lenni-Lenape tribe of the Absegami Indians were the primary residents, and largely made their living by clamming. Dutch explorer Henry Hudson showed up on the scene around 1609, and before long the Native Americans became engaged in heavy trade with the Dutch and British. British settlement of the area began around 1663, after the land had been officially purchased from the Native Americans, and by the time of the Revolutionary War, the area was a bastion of loyalists to the Crown. British domain of the area ended brutally when General George Washington and his men defeated the British at the famous Battle of Monmouth. In the century following the war, the area's maritime activities continued and the industries of clamming and fishing flourished. Farming, too, became important, and by the 1800s a sizeable and prosperous farming community had been established.
The Sandy Hook/Atlantic Highlands area experienced a boom during the late 1800s when the communities recognized their potential as seaside resorts - hotels, inns, rental cottages, and restaurants opened for business, and tourists from areas north, particularly Manhattan, flocked to the area for some rest and relaxation.
With the introduction of steamship lines to other spots along the Jersey Shore, as well as of the Garden State Parkway in 1957, tourism in this area suffered somewhat. Nonetheless, the communities of Keansburg, Atlantic Highlands, Port Monmouth, Middletown, and Bedford have worked to increase tourism again by cleaning beaches, restoring historical sites, and advertising their wildlife observation opportunities. It can truly be said that nowadays, tourists from New York City are rediscovering the Sandy Hook/Atlantic Highlands area.
Long Branch
Like other Jersey Shore regions, the Lenni-Lenape Native Americans first inhabited Long Branch. Whereas Dutch explorer Henry Hudson claimed the area for Holland in 1664, the territory quickly passed into the hands of British royalty. Long Branch began being settled in 1668. At first the early colonists ignored the potential of the ocean, settling inland and pursuing agriculture primarily, supplemented with fishing and hunting. By the late 1700s, Long Branch became one of the nation's first seashore resorts. Visitors from New York City, Philadelphia, and other areas of New Jersey often rented rooms from the local farmers to enjoy the newly-built bath houses and enjoy the healing properties of sun, sand, and salty air. From the early- to mid-1800s, tourists were commonly seen walking up and down the areas beaches collecting shells and singing religious hymns to entertain themselves.
The mid-to late 1800s brought Long Branch national and international attention from famous personages. Mrs. Abraham Lincoln vacationed in Long Branch in 1861; Parisian fashion designers came to scope out the newest, hottest styles; and in 1869 President Ulysses S. Grant arrived to town establishing the place as his choicest summer relaxation spot. Other U.S. Presidents followed suit and Long Branch became their “Summer Capital.”
At the end of the 1800s, the resort town lost a good deal of its luster after anti-gaming laws were passed that illegalized its nascent gambling industry. It quietly removed itself from the limelight as it suffered through resulting economic hardships. Long Branch remained low-profile as a resort town throughout the 20th century, catering to middle-class families in search of quiet beaches. Today Long Branch is on the upswing. Anyone who knows the place will tell you that it is on the brink of becoming an East Coast hotspot - fantastic beaches and a renovated, posh boardwalk are putting this Jersey Shore town back on the itineraries of the well-traveled.
Ocean Grove
Considered one of the most unique towns along the Jersey Shore, Ocean Grove's history is fascinating. New York Methodist preacher William B. Osborn, widely considered the “Father of Ocean Grove,” decided to establish a permanent religious retreat town in the area in 1869. He envisioned it as a place where Methodists could invigorate their commitment to Christian doctrine amidst natural beauty.
Because there were no buildings in Ocean Grove at the time, Methodist pilgrims to the first Ocean Grove camp meeting camped out in tents, listening to religious sermons and engaging in prayer and religious revival sessions. Osborn's house was built in 1873 when the people of Ocean Grove presented him with a $3,000 cottage as a gift for his missionary and religious work. For more than two decades his followers slept outside and in tents until the large Victorian Great Auditorium, seating more than 7,000, was constructed. Today the Great Auditorium is used for concerts, sermons, speeches, and lectures. The likes of Billy Graham, Richard Nixon, W.E.B. Dubois, William Jennings Bryan, Will Rogers and others, have graced its stage.
During the 1900s Ocean Grove grew into more than just a religious retreat for Methodists. While there remained a small colony of tents outside of the Great Auditorium during the summers (and even today this colony persists), beautiful Victorian-style hotels and guests houses were built to accommodate tourists who just wished for a idyllic summer holiday. President Ulysses S. Grant's mother and sister owned a home in Ocean Grove and many other wealthy tourists from neighboring seaside towns often visited for a quiet, quaint day.
Throughout the 20th century the Methodist Camp Meeting Association maintained control over Ocean Grove governance. Liquor was prohibited (the town remains dry) and, for a time, cars were not allowed to drive the streets of Ocean Grove on weekends. Today the Methodist community still predominates the culture and character of Ocean Grove. Whereas some of the stricter religious and moral codes have been relaxed, Ocean Grove continues to be a provincial, conservative town visited by travelers seeking a simple and serenely low-key, summer retreat.
Atlantic City
Now glitzy and glamorous, Atlantic City had uncharacteristically humble beginnings. Before the arrival of European settlers in the 17th century, the Lenni Lenape tribe of the Absegami Indians, known for their pottery and farming, were the first summer visitors to Absegami Island (also called Absecon Island), on which Atlantic City is now situated. These original inhabitants engaged in a variety of sea-related activities, from swimming and canoeing to fishing and hunting. The first recorded owner of the island was Englishman Thomas Budd who arrived to the area in the 1670s after receiving a land grant from the British crown. Visits from British and Dutch mainland settlers, who began building permanent homes and buildings, characterized the area's 18th-century history.
Atlantic City's history as a resort town began in 1820 when physician Jonathan Pitney, together with his Philadelphian civil engineer friend Richard Osborne, envisioned the area's million-dollar future. Thanks to their lobbying, in 1854 Camden and Atlantic Railroad's first train arrived in Atlantic City. Believing advertisements that the ocean air would cure consumption, insanity, and other illnesses, visitors poured into Atlantic City from all over the East Coast to nourish their bodies and souls. Vacationers arrived by sea as well - Atlantic City soon became a bustling port and, despite the threat of nor'easters (causing many shipwreck tragedies), intrepid travelers largely from the South and abroad braved the perilous waters in search of Atlantic City's fast-increasing opportunities for recreation. By 1870, resort hotels opened along the coastline and, hoping to keep the sand on the beach (and out of hotel lobbies) local executives Jacob Keim and Alex Boardman, built the Jersey Shore's first boardwalk.
During the 1900s Atlantic City became an East Coast focal point of fun, defining the newest and best in recreation: amusement parks, saltwater taffy stands, the always-entertaining Steel Pier, and famous daredevil performances created a tremendous stir among many East Coast vacationers. The 1920s marked the first Miss America Pageant accompanied by the construction of what was then the world's largest convention hall.
During the Great Depression, an unemployed Philadelphia salesman, Charles B. Darrow, invented the Monopoly board game, inspired by his vacations to Atlantic City during more prosperous times. When Parker Brothers rejected his creation, the tenacious Darrow took an expensive (but profitable) risk and paid for the game's production himself. After large Philadelphia and New York toy stores (F.A.O. Schwarz included) immediately sold out their stock during the following Christmas season, Parker Brothers reconsidered, and by 1935 more than 20,000 games were being produced each week.
By the mid- to late-1930s Atlantic City was the place to see and be seen for the nation's rich and famous. With the advent of air travel after World War II, Atlantic City's tourism industry suffered terribly, as East Coast tourists forgot their beloved resort town and boarded planes headed for the West Coast and Florida. This downturn ended in the 1970s when New Jersey residents voted to allow casino gambling in the city. The first casino opened in 1978, and for the past nearly 30 years Atlantic City's reputation for some of the nation's best, most bombastic amusements, has largely been restored. The boardwalk and beaches of Atlantic City brim with activity both year-round and around the clock. The Atlantic City boardwalk is alive with joggers, bikers, walkers, rolling chairs, food vendors, and exciting amusement rides. High-rise hotel casinos, headliner entertainment, and world-class performers grace Atlantic City's stages nightly. There does remain, however, a striking remnant of Atlantic City's hardships. Once you step off the Boardwalk and head several blocks west from the beaches and casinos, you'll see that, for some, the hard times persist.
Whereas the city's tourist industry is on the upswing, and restaurants and casinos cater to millions of travelers each year, little of the tremendous wealth generated has trickled down to the average, everyday Atlantic City resident. Atlantic City remains a tale of two cities; boom and bust somehow exist side by side.
Cape May
Members of the Lenni-Lenape tribe were also the first inhabitants of this southernmost Jersey Shore town. In the early 1620s, Captain Cornelius Jacobsen Mey recognized the region's trading potential for Dutch merchants. He set up a settlement for fur trapping, trading, and bartering, naming the Cape after himself. By the late 1680s, settlers from New England began setting up whaling and fishing villages. Because of their aggressive settlement, by the late 1700s few Dutch or Lenni-Lenape residents remained. Cape May quickly established itself as the United States' first seashore resort boasting famous visitors such as Abraham Lincoln (before his presidency) as well as many U.S. Presidents, including Woodrow Wilson, Rutherford Hayes, Ulysses S. Grant, James Garfield, William McKinley, Chester A. Arthur, and Benjamin Harrison. Because Cape May was a cosmopolitan, cutting-edge community, the worldwide influence of the Victorian Era impacted local architecture.
By the early 1800s a ferry service brought vacationers to Cape May, and when the railroad reached the town in 1863, the tourism industry flourished further. A series of tragic fires and nor'easter storms during the late 1800s until the mid-1900s made a serious dent in Cape May's popularity. When the Garden State Parkway reached Cape May in 1954 the area's tourism again began to pick up. As a result of the influx of tourists to the region, the neighboring Wildwoods communities began constructing hundreds of colorful, space-age-style, affordable motels, designed to accommodate vacationing families. Many of the Doo-Wop, 1950s-style space-age-looking motels remain today as bright, friendly testaments to that time. This trend strengthened when Cape May was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1976. Specifically in the past several decades, this seaside town has enjoyed a major renaissance. Wineries are opening, historic Victorian mansions are being lovingly restored, and Cape May is as busy as it ever was.
|
|
|