Queen City of Long Beach Island celebrates 125th anniversary

Beach Haven, the Queen City of Long Beach Island, is celebrating its quasquicentennial this year. In layman’s terms, the town is officially 125 years old. That’s right, it’s an old lady.

The center of the area’s main attractions for many decades, Beach Haven has become known for its beautiful, expansive beaches and a host of popular shopping destinations, including those in downtown Bay Village, as well as its variety of delicious food from The Chicken or the Egg’s famous wings and Holiday Snack Bar’s classic burgers to Country Kettle Chowda’s award-winning chowder and Crust and Crumb Bakery’s gigantic elephant ears.

Photo by Ryan Morrill
The public can view objects from old
Beach Haven at the borough's library.

Every summer thousands of residents and visitors battle the traffic across the Causeway Bridge to gather in the small town, where they celebrate some of the Jersey Shore’s best-loved events from the newly curated Hop Sauce Festival to the well-established Chowderfest. Throughout the summer weeks, Fantasy Island Amusement Park, which is staffed by generations of friends and families, can be seen packed with ride lovers. And the nightlife hot spots, from The Marlin and The Ketch to The Sea Shell and Buckalew’s, are always hopping.

It’s a tourist attraction rich in culture; visitors are often seen exploring the town’s Long Beach Island Historical and New Jersey Maritime History museums as well as the plethora of Victorian homes and old buildings. The marine district, where visitors can catch a ride on The Black Pearl or Miss Beach Haven or rent their own boat at Polly’s Dock, has also been a town staple.

What some people may not know, however, is that Beach Haven was the first town to officially incorporate on LBI.

Some history, according to the Beach Haven Historic Preservation Advisory Committee:

In 1850, Archelaus R. Pharo, the founder of Beach Haven and a Tuckerton businessman, met with a group of wealthy Philadelphia duck hunters at the Long Beach House, a hotel on the south end of LBI owned by Capt. Thomas Bond. It was here they began planning to build a nearby resort for their families.

In 1873, he bought 670 acres of undeveloped land for $243. He later sold the property, which would become the community of Beach Haven, to the Tuckerton and Long Beach Building, Land and Improvement Association for $6,666. Pharo’s daughter chose Beach Heaven as the name of the resort.

In 1874, Pharo constructed the town’s first two cottages, on Second Street. A public wharf was also built at the end of Mud Hen Creek (now Dock Road), so people could travel from the mainland to work on the many building projects. The wharf was enlarged in 1876 to accommodate visitors arriving on steamboats.

Charles Parry, president of the Philadelphia-based Baldwin Locomotive Works, also built the Parry House Hotel on Centre Street in 1874. The Beach Haven House was built at the end of Mud Hen Creek, where it stood until 1967. It is now the site of Buckalew’s Restaurant.

In 1875, Thomas Sherbourne, who owned the entire south end of Beach Haven, built the farmhouse that would eventually form the center of the three-story building on Liberty Avenue, now known as Beck Farm.

Robert Engle and his cousin Samuel, who were Quakers from Mount Holly, bought property between South Street (now Engleside Avenue) and Amber Street for the Engleside Hotel in 1876. By the 1930s, it was losing money and eventually closed in 1940. It was torn down in 1943, and since the hotel owed the borough $15,000 in back taxes, the whole block was turned over to the town. It became the current Veterans Bicentennal Park.

The Beach Haven Yacht Club was founded as a sailing society, with Charles Gibbons III as commodore, also in 1876.

In 1877, a 50-room hotel known as the Ocean House was built on Centre Street next door to the Magnolia House, which was built at the same time. They were built by the Lamson siblings who resided in Cedar Run.

The resort continued to grow throughout the 1880s, with more summer and year-round homes. Quaker-inspired houses were constructed on Third Street, and Beach Avenue became the heart of the business area with many small stores.

In August 1881, the Parry House burned to the ground. Parry’s wife sponsored the construction of the Holy Innocents’ Episcopal Church (now the Long Beach Island Historical Museum) in honor of the fact that no lives were lost in the fire. The first service was conducted on July 9, 1882. That same year, the Portia Cottage, located on Coral Street, was built for Edward Williams and his family.

The Beach Haven Volunteer Fire Company, the first in Ocean County, was established on April 28, 1883. The Baldwin Hotel, named for the founder of the Baldwin Locomotive Company, was built between Pearl and Marine streets; it had a capacity of 400 people. A small train nicknamed the Beach Haven Flier transported guests from the hotel to the bay.

In 1884, the first Beach Haven school was erected on Third Street, and Lilly Bates became the first teacher. The building is the present-day Island Baptist Church.

Baymen’s cottages were built on Second Street between Bay and Beach avenues in 1885. The railroad approach over Barnegat Bay from Manahawkin to Ship Bottom also began to form. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company laid tracks on the Island after company executives became part of the Beach Haven community. The railroad started running trains from Philadelphia to Beach Haven the following year.

During the late 1880s, most of the town’s seaside cottages were completed on Coral Street for the Philadelphia railroad executives of Baldwin Locomotive. Williams and John Converse completed their mirror-image Onion Dome houses, designed by John A. Wilson, on Atlantic Avenue. Many of the Queen Anne-style houses were built on Centre Street at the former site of the Parry House, and most of the houses facing the Hotel Baldwin were completed on Pearl Street. Henry Drinker, who became the president of Lehigh University, bought the Curlew Cottage on Coral Street; it was sold in 1994.

On November 11, 1890, Beach Haven Borough was established by the New Jersey Legislature, and William L. Butler was elected as the first mayor.

The borough will celebrate this year's special anniversary with a variety of celebratory events throughout the summer season, including a Throwback Softball Game at Walsh Field on Sunday, May 24.

For more information about the upcoming events, contact borough hall at 609-494-0111.

— Kelley Anne Essinger


This article was published in The Beachcomber.