Asbury Park Revisited
By Lisa Lamb
()
About this ebook
Lisa Lamb
Lisa Lamb has documented Asbury Park's history for more than a decade at side-o-lamb.com. Here, she presents postcard scenes chosen from her own extensive collection, hoping to spark the memories of those who spent childhood summers in the town during its glory days and to give those who never got that chance a glimpse into what they missed.
Related to Asbury Park Revisited
Related ebooks
Abraham and Straus: It's Worth a Trip from Anywhere Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSt. Charles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAsbury Park Reborn: Lost to Time and Restored to Glory Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOcean City, New Jersey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGentrification Down the Shore Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAsbury Park: A Brief History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5West Orange Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Scollay Square Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Gone with the Fins Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDuke Homestead and the American Tobacco Company Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIosco County: The Photography of Ard G. Emery 1892-1904 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOcean City Beach Patrol Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSanta Monica in Vintage Postcards Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDurham Tales: The Morris Street Maple, the Plastic Cow, the Durham Day that Was & More Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Great Event: When the World Came to the Isle of Wight Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNew York Covered Bridges: Covered Bridges of North America, #11 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhoto Inspiration: Secrets Behind Stunning Images Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Keyport: From Plantation to Center of Commerce and Industry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHuntington Beach Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5JR: The Chronicles of San Francisco Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNewfane and Olcott Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOcean City’s Historic Hotels Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMontgomery County Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBerkley Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Long Island Motor Parkway Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBreweriana: American Beer Collectibles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAugusta in Vintage Postcards Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrowing Up in Baltimore: A Photographic History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Trimper's Rides Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMaryland's Skipjacks Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Travel For You
Lonely Planet Mexico Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Spotting Danger Before It Spots You: Build Situational Awareness To Stay Safe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Optimize YOUR Bnb: The Definitive Guide to Ranking #1 in Airbnb Search by a Prior Employee Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Spanish Verbs - Conjugations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRocks and Minerals of The World: Geology for Kids - Minerology and Sedimentology Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fodor's Bucket List Europe: From the Epic to the Eccentric, 500+ Ultimate Experiences Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFodor's Bucket List USA: From the Epic to the Eccentric, 500+ Ultimate Experiences Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLonely Planet The Travel Book: A Journey Through Every Country in the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fodor's New Orleans Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Fodor's Best Road Trips in the USA: 50 Epic Trips Across All 50 States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fodor's The Complete Guide to the National Parks of the West: with the Best Scenic Road Trips Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5RV Hacks: 400+ Ways to Make Life on the Road Easier, Safer, and More Fun! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFodor's Arizona & the Grand Canyon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDisney Declassified Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Notes from a Small Island Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/550 Great American Places: Essential Historic Sites Across the U.S. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Longest Way Home: One Man's Quest for the Courage to Settle Down Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vagabonding on a Budget: The New Art of World Travel and True Freedom: Live on Your Own Terms Without Being Rich Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTaste of... Puerto Rico: A food travel guide Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge: Traveler's Guide to Batuu Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5South: Shackleton's Endurance Expedition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Everything Travel Guide to Ireland: From Dublin to Galway and Cork to Donegal - a complete guide to the Emerald Isle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Van Life Cookbook: Delicious Recipes, Simple Techniques and Easy Meal Prep for the Road Trip Lifestyle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Reviews for Asbury Park Revisited
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Asbury Park Revisited - Lisa Lamb
collection.
INTRODUCTION
On an overcast day in June 2004, a group of about 150 people gathered on the northwest corner of Asbury Park’s Kingsley Street and Cookman Avenue. Across the street, a painting on a foot-thick piece of cinderblock wall attached to a partially demolished building was being framed in steel. News cameras recorded as a crane pulled the frame upwards. Applause broke out once the painting was free from the wall, and it was clear that it had remained intact. Normally, a construction project like this would not draw much of a crowd. On this day however, Tillie, the smiling de facto mascot of Asbury Park, was being salvaged from the side of Palace Amusements, an entertainment complex dating almost to the founding of Asbury Park.
A little more than 130 years earlier, James Bradley, a wealthy New Yorker who had made his fortunes in brush manufacturing, visited the Methodist retreat of Ocean Grove, New Jersey. Taken with the positive effect he believed the seashore had on his health, Bradley paid $90,000 to purchase 500 acres of oceanfront property north of Ocean Grove. He named his town Asbury Park after Francis Asbury, America’s first Methodist Episcopal bishop. Founder Bradley,
as he was often called, had a vision for Asbury Park of polite cleanliness in both morality and physicality. The town would be a secular counterpart to Ocean Grove, where one could enjoy wholesome entertainment and healthful sea breezes. In order to make sure the atmosphere remained respectable, many of the restrictions in place in Ocean Grove would also be in place in Asbury Park: gambling and drinking were strictly prohibited, women were expected to be chaperoned and dress modestly, and businesses were closed on Sundays.
To say that Bradley was intimately involved in shaping the early direction of Asbury Park is an understatement. In addition to dictating the layout of the town’s large lots, parks, and wide streets, Bradley served as the town’s first postmaster and the editor of the town’s first newspaper. He personally bankrolled the construction of the boardwalk as well as miles of sewer pipes for the town’s sanitation system, which was the first of its kind in the area. Despite his civic-minded nature, Bradley was not completely beneficent. He posted signs along the boardwalk bearing prohibitions against what he perceived to be immoral behavior and hired special beach police who made sure people dressed and behaved respectfully. African Americans were not welcome east of the railroad tracks unless they were there for work. Lots were sold at Bradley’s discretion, and he wrote restrictions into deeds to ensure that hotels and restaurants could not serve liquor. By the turn of the 20th century, Bradley’s desire to keep the boardwalk free of commercial interests was at odds with local businessmen. In 1903, after years of contentious dealings with city hall over the direction Asbury Park should take, and facing a lawsuit that was likely to result in the city taking the waterfront, Bradley sold the boardwalk and sewer system to the city for less than a tenth of what it was worth.
In the early to mid-20th century, Asbury Park f lourished. Grand hotels were constructed to house the thousands who came to spend time strolling the boardwalk and beautiful beachfront. Buildings along the boardwalk offered music, dancing, and dining. The daily summer population was as high as 50,000 people, with more than 100,000 coming for events like the annual baby parade and carnival. A chamber of commerce was established in 1913 to promote the town, and due to its convenient rail service and multitude of downtown shops, Asbury Park became known as the commercial center of Monmouth County.
Beginning in the 1950s, a number of factors came together to cause Asbury Park’s popularity to wane. As highways allowed the public to travel farther and more quickly than before, daytrippers replaced people who would have come for the two-week stays that were common in the early 1900s. The boardwalk remained popular, but other towns with longer boardwalks, like the one at Seaside Heights, were easier than ever to get to. The Garden State Arts Center arena in Holmdel, with its ample parking and easy access to the parkway, drew bands that would have previously been booked at Asbury Park’s convention hall. Disney World was a short plane ride away, and Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, presented thrills beyond what any boardwalk could offer. The city’s already declining tourism was made worse in 1970 when long-simmering racial tensions came to a head in riots that lasted for days, leaving 100 people injured and blocks of town destroyed. Downtown shopping fell out of favor as indoor shopping centers like Monmouth Mall in nearby Eatontown allowed consumers to make purchases in temperature-controlled comfort. In the late 1970s, a quarter of the commercial space on Cookman Avenue that had helped Asbury Park remain a year-round retail destination for so long was vacant.
By the time Bruce Springsteen began playing the Stone Pony, Asbury Park was well into a decline that has taken nearly 40 years