Island Heights native and worldwide professional photographer/videographer, Peter Slack, this weekend has released online his documentary on the annual World Duckboat Championship, a treat that we’re happy to share with our Seaport followers today.

"People of all ages and far off places gather for one of their favorite days of the Summer...the Duck Boat Worlds.   The Duck boats are judged the night before and a trophy is given for the boat in the best Bristol condition.  There is much to be learned from these old wooden boats as they give the older generation a chance to share their stories and wood working techniques...and their secrets to what makes a Duck boat go fast."

Enjoy!

Welcome to Toms River Seaport Society’s (Mari)Time-Warp, taking our supporters back through the nautical history of the Barnegat Bay and Toms River watershed areas!

Today we zip around Barnegat Bay and Toms River’s July 4th activities, as covered by the Philadelphia Times on July 9th, 1899 and rediscovered thanks to Newspapers.com.

BARNEGAT AFFORDS NUMEROUS DIVERSIONS

Special Correspondence of THE TIMES.

Barnegat, July 8.
Jolly times were had by the summer visitors here this week and what with the fishing, sailing, wheeling on superb gravel roads, crabbing, bathing and the like there has been time for nothing like ennui.
To-day a regatta will be sailed by the mosquito fleet under nineteen feet in length.
Fish are being caught in large quantities. Mostly there are weakfish, but at the Inlet big red and black drum have been taking the hook, to say nothing of the channel bass...

FAMOUS FISHING AT BEACH HAVEN

Special Correspondence of THE TIMES.

Beach Haven, N.J., July 8.
Fishing is now at its best, and nearly every yacht comes in with a big box full of the finny beauties. The Beach Haven yacht captain has a way of his own for catching the toothsome weakfish. Instead of giving the novices at the sport each a long bamboo pole, dropping his sail and anchoring his yacht over the shell bed, as a Barnegat Bay captain would do, the Beach Haven salt proceeds in an entirely different manner. He doesn't anchor his yacht, but brings her up in the wind on the windward side of the channel, keeping his sail up, but hanging loose in the wind, and lets his boat drift slowly across to the leeward side of the channel in a diagonal line, as the tide sets up or down the channel. Nor does he give the amateur angler a long pole; a hand line, he says, will fell the bite better, and on the windward side of the drifting boat it is no trouble to keep the lines and bait far enough from the yacht. If the fishermen are experts with rod and reel, that is a different matter, but for the novice, your Beach Haven salt maintains that a hand line will feel a bite quicker, and can be used to hook the fish more securely than the pole. The fish are big two and three pounders, what are called channel or tide runners, and not the small half-pound school fish of August.

Nor does the Beach Haven fishing party spend all day at the sport, taking out luncheon, as is the habit in Barnegat Bay. Instead they go out after breakfast, rarely sailing more than a half mile or so from the big dock, and return by 10 or 11 o'clock with all that the most ardent angler could wish. After dinner the sport may be repeated...

REGATTAS POPULAR AT ISLAND HEIGHTS

Special Correspondence of THE TIMES.

Island Heights, July 8.
July Fourth was a big day in the history of the Heights as a summer resort. Practically all the cottages are rented and the hotels are assured of all the guests they can accommodate for the next eight weeks. In fact, the crying need of Island Heights is for more hotel room.

The event of the week was the regatta of the Island Heights Yacht Club on the Fourth. The chief prize, the club championship cup and pennant, went to the Virginia, owned by W.G. Hartranft. Albert Mulford won second prize, a ship's lantern, of brass, in the Carita. A ship's compass was the third prize and fell to Edward Megargee.

Another race was sailed the same day and over the same course by the mosquito fleet of boats under 18 feet in length. The William H. Miller, sailed by Keeper Ed Miller, of Island Beach, L.S.S., won first place, beating Howard Webb's Golden Rod three seconds actual time, 29 seconds corrected time, over a ten mile course, with the wind blowing a gale. Tom Wilbur finished third.

Rev. Daniel Everett Lyons, who will have charge of the camp-meeting, announces that it will be held from August 13 to 20 inclusive.

A dinner and supper was held at the Auditorium on the Fourth by the ladies of the Methodist Church...

SEA SIDE PARK IS IN THE SWIM

Special Correspondence of THE TIMES.

Sea Side Park, July 8.
Several additions have been made to the fleet of yachts at this resort. General Superintendent Frank Sheppard, of the Pennsylvania Railroad, has his yacht Sculpin here in charge of Captain "Les" Penn. The craft is sloop-rigged, with a naphtha engine for auxiliary power when the wind is light.

Another naphtha launch is the Adele, owned by Messrs. Jackson and Sharp, of Philadelphia, the proprietors of the Berkeley Hotel.

The pier at the foot of Fifth avenue has been built out some hundred feet or more into the bay and is a favorite harbor for the Barnegat Bay yachtsmen, who have been reaping a rich harvest with sailing and fishing parties.

The Fourth of July saw perhaps the biggest crowd in the history of Sea Side Park. The cottages are now all occupied and the hotel is doing a nice business. The reduced railroad rates are also bringing many people from the city, who come down to see what this new resort is like and who invariably go away with the intention of returning for a longer stay...

​JOLLY CAMPERS AT TOMS RIVER

Special Correspondence of THE TIMES.

Toms River, N.J., July 8.
The Fourth of July made a busy week and brought with it many guests, not a few of whom are remaining for the summer. Yachting continues in favor and the yachting parties were so numerous on the holiday that yachts had to be procured from various Barnegat Bay resorts to accommodate them.

Bathing at the "Spiles" [today Beachwood Beach] is much in favor, and this whilom [we had to look it up, too: means formerly, or "in the past"] resort of the village lad is now given over to the summer visitors of both sexes, who enjoy still water bathing and swimming.

A new yacht, 28 feet over all and 21 feet on the water line, has been built by Amos Lewis, of Forked River, for Messrs. H.A. Low and John Imlay, and added to the Toms River fleet of cat boats...

The Boys' Brotherhood, of Philadelphia, in charge of Charles Mitchell, are encamped near Money Island, some fifty strong. Professor E.J. Thompson, of the Boys' High School, is president of the brotherhood and is a member of the camp. Dr. C.C. Morgan, the vice president; Professor C.R. Coggeshall, the treasurer, and Dr. C.B. Reynolds, camp surgeon, are with the lads, who occupy seven tents.

The Logan Yacht Club, of Philadelphia, are camped near the brotherhood camp.

Open Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays - 10 am to 2 pm
78 East Water Street, Toms River, NJ 08753
Guided Tours By Request - New Members Always Welcome
(732) 349-9209 - [email protected]

Welcome to Toms River Seaport Society’s (Mari)Time-Warp, taking our supporters back through the nautical history of the Barnegat Bay and Toms River watershed areas!

Today we spend time in a summery 1890s Island Heights, as covered by the Philadelphia Times on July 5th, 1896 and rediscovered thanks to Newspapers.com.

Note: this article includes a special collection of illustrations originally found in the sketchbook of a Swarthmore College co-ed, Henry C. Turner, who documented the trip of his group of friends to Island Heights in summer 1893.

SUMMER LIFE AT ISLAND HEIGHTS

IT IS ONE OF THE PRETTIEST INLAND RESORTS IN NEW JERSEY.

THE BATHING DELIGHTFUL

Fishing Parties Are in Season Now, and Every Morning Numbers Are Seen, Lunch Baskets and Fishing Tackle in Hand, on Their Way to the "Cats," Awaiting to Sail Them to Barnegat Bay, Pier or Inlet, All Excellent Fishing Points.

Special Telegram to THE TIMES.
ISLAND HEIGHTS, July 4.

This is one of the prettiest inland summer resorts in Jersey. It is a group of bluffs, carpeted with vari-colored grasses and flowers, shaded everywhere by trees with the heaviest foliage and ornamented with attractive cottages. It is situated on what is generally called Tom's river, although it is in reality but an arm of Barnegat Bay. This body of water is beautiful, as blue at times as the ocean, and almost as breezy. It is three-quarters of a mile wide and three and a half miles long, and always as thickly dotted with white sailboats as a field of daisies with butterflies. All who sojourn here learn to swim and row well, from the great-grandparent to the tot of 4 years. And right well was this fact demonstrated last evening in a rowing and swimming match--all parties concerned being Philadelphians. Mr. Wesson, quite well known in the Quaker City, and who might be termed a water enthusiast, for he spends his whole time on the water, is one of the luckiest fishermen, an expert sailor, fine oarsman and an A 1 swimmer, arranged these two matches. He selected the oldest bachelor, Philip Arnold, aged 93, and Anna Winston, 87, for the swimming match, and the two youngest Philadelphian "experts," Maud Hudson and Earl Vinson, for the rowing match. The old pair took the lead, and the race was won by "Miss Anna" by several feet. The second race was only a quarter mile against the tide, and was easily won by the little Maud by more than the length of her boat. The first race was amusing, extremely so: the second very spirited and interesting. When the dimpled hands of the wee maiden dropped her oars and shot past the the stake the river echoed with cheers from the crowd on the boardwalk. The prizes were presented as soon as the winners reached the shore. The first prize was a bicycle, the second a diamond ring. Mr. Arnold handed Miss Anna the wheel, and with many smiles and bows begged that he might teach her to master her silent partner. Master Vinson very cunningly gave the ring to the little maiden who had defeated him.

​Bathing is delightful here, the river being shallow, except in the channel, and always pleasantly warm. There is no danger, or but very little, attached to either bathing or rowing, so that lovers of such sport are safe to indulge as frequently as their desire dictates. This place is 18 years old and has yet its first fatal accident to chronicle. All the old settlers are proud of this fact, and never fail to boast of such a record.

​A trio of Quaker City belles, who are as much at home in and on the water as on land, are Miss Louise Randolph, Miss Essie Mills and Miss Margy Berry. These young ladies are much more attractive in their bathing suits than in ordinary dress, and that can't be said of everyone. They are graceful swimmers and splendid oarswomen. There are a half dozen men here from Philadelphia whose swimming attracts much attention. These men could scarcely sink if weighted down. They swim over the river at any time, and almost every morning and evening swim two miles up or down the stream. They are Paul Mills, Eugene Ellis, Ned Palfrey, Edward Littleton, Henry Slonger and Samuel Black. Mr. Mills is without doubt the best swimmer. He often sits on a chip no larger than his hand out in the deepest part of the river and fishes for an hour or more. How the tiny bits of wood bear him up no one knows. But there he sits, contentedly fishing, and actually catching fish, for the edification of his admirers. It is very amusing to see the vain attempts of others trying to accomplish this same feat.

​Fishing parties are in season now, and every morning numbers are seen, lunch baskets and fishing tackle in hand, on their way to the "cats" awaiting to sail them to Barnegat Bay, Pier or Inlet--all excellent fishing points. The experience of all who go up to Barnegat to fish is rather exciting, but sometimes too exciting for one's peace of mind. Friday morning Mr. Weister, of Philadelphia, started out for a half day's sport, at least, but had just as much as he wanted in about twenty minutes. His line was seized the moment it dropped down in the water either by a very hungry or very angry fish, and a perfect monster, at that. The boat was capsized and the line became tangled around his body and he was dragged nearly three hundred yards. When almost drowned, the line broke, or, since it was new and strong, was cut by the fish, and he managed to extricate himself. He was dreadfully strangled and the line had cut his arms above and below the elbow, where it was wound so tightly, to the bone. He suffered so that he left for home to be treated by his family physician.

​Mrs. Weeks, of North Tenth street, Philadelphia, who is sojourning here for the season, had two of her fingers jerked out of place by one of the big Barnegat fish. They were put in place by an old tar who chanced to be near, and the little lady has quite recovered and is ready to indulge again in her favorite summer pastime--fishing.

​This morning while a freight was coming in from the Junction, a girl, bare-headed and half-clad, was seen sitting on the track. The engineer blew the whistle sharply many times, but the girl seemed not to hear. Seeing that she paid no attention to the approaching train, Mr. Martin, an old resident here, hastened to her and lifted her out of danger. He recognized the girl as the daughter of an old acquaintance of his, and a former resident of this place. The girl he knew almost in an instant was demented, and in that state had wandered away from home unknown to her family. Mr. Martin says the girl was to have been married this summer, but that her lover was among the killed in the Pittston mine. Her mother, who lives in Jersey City, wrote to Mrs. Martin only a few days ago that the death of Eva's lover had so affected the girl that she was afraid it would unbalance her mind. Mr. Martin put his coat around the girl, and brought her to his home. After coaxing her to put on some of his wife's clothes, he boarded the next train with her to Jersey City. The girl has quite a pretty face.

All of the men wear white trousers, strangely inappropriate as they are for such splashy, dirty sport as fishing. At least, it is supposed they were white when first put on, but they are rarely what they were. If one may judge by what one sees, then the chief occupation of the men is sitting. The seat of their trousers tells the tale.
​
The Girard College boys, five hundred strong, will reach here in the early part of next week. They will camp here for a month or six weeks. They are a jolly set, and great times are expected.

The bicycle girls are in their element here. There are no trolleys, nor any of the annoyances of city life to frighten them. So with clear, smooth paths, they glide happily all day long over hills, and through the valleys, taking with them everywhere rosy cheeks and tanned noses.

Most of the cottages here are owned by Philadelphians, and a number from the Quaker City are here and others are to follow in August. A few, however, weary of the quiet life here, have rented their homes and are sojourning at other resorts. Some of the Philadelphians who are happily domiciled here are Mr. and Mrs. Robert Shoemaker, Mr. and Mrs. W.S. Whroads, Mr. and Mrs. Brooks, Mr. and Mrs. Herring, in Perrins' cottage; Mr. and Mrs. Webb, Mr. and Mrs. Miller, Mr. and Mrs. Gifford, Mr. Pettit and others. F.F. Milne and family are in their pretty cottage on the river front. They have the sailing yacht Vesper in commission, and will soon have their steam pleasure launch ready for use.

Edward Perkins, of Philadelphia, has engaged the yacht Wang for the summer.

One of the prettiest hotels in Island Heights is the Perennial. It is happily situated on the river front, giving an attractive view of the river, and a peep 'round the bluff at Barnegat Bay. Rev. W.A. Ferguson and John L. Ogden are registered at the Perennial from Philadelphia, and a number of Philadelphians are expected at this hotel tonight.

The Fourth of July flags have been waving over the city all day. There has been a sound of crackers, and the odor of powder. Those of mature ears are deaf, but the small boy is so happy that he doesn't know or care that his face is powder-blacked and his hands burned. He has had a glorious day, and will live in fond remembrance until the next Fourth.

Open Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays - 10 am to 2 pm
78 East Water Street, Toms River, NJ 08753
Guided Tours By Request - New Members Always Welcome
(732) 349-9209 - [email protected]

​Welcome to Toms River Seaport Society’s (Mari)Time-Warp, taking our supporters back through the nautical history of the Barnegat Bay and Toms River watershed areas!

Today we learn about controversy from overfishing along the Jersey shore, as covered by the Philadelphia Inquirer on August 21st, 1894 and rediscovered thanks to Newspapers.com.

MENHADEN MEN FISHERMEN'S FOE

Fish Steamers' Big Purse Nets Ruining Sport on the Jersey Coast.

Blockade the Inlets and Scoop in Thousands of Food Fish.

Pound Nets Aid in the Slaughter.
Legislation to Protect the Fishing Industry Needed--One of the Chief Attractions of the Seaside Resorts in Danger

Special to The Inquirer.
TOMS RIVER, N.J., Aug. 20.--If something is not speedily done to stop the encroachments of pond fishermen on the one hand, and of menaden steamers on the other, the angling along the Jersey shore will be a matter of history and of tradition only in a very few years' time. Of the two evils the menhaden fishermen are the most destructive. Fitted out with swift steamers and large crews, they cruise along the shores, particularly in the neighborhood of the inlets, where the fish are seeking the quieter and fresher waters of the bays and thoroughfares for spawning places. With large purse nets they take everything from the smallest menhaden or "mossbunkers"--as the shore fishermen call them--up to the largest of blue and weakfish, sea bass, rock fish and all that is going.

It is no uncommon thing to count on a clear summer's day from twelve to fifteen of these steamers plying their trade within a radius of two or three miles, either at Barnegat Inlet or anywhere along Island and Squan beaches. With the utmost of assurance they stand right in the mouths of the inlets and scoop the waters of the teeming millions of fish that have always made the bays their spawning ground.

To the inhabitants of New Jersey's shore, whether it be the hotel men who have millions of dollars invested in hotels at the various resorts, or the poor fisherman, whose whole outfit is a bank skiff and a few band lines with which he has to make his daily bread, the worst feature of this piracy is that it is almost all done by fishermen from other localities.

GREEDY MENHADEN MEN

The menhaden oil factories were first started down in Maine and when the waters of the Eastern States were depleted of these small and non-edible fish, which form the principal food of the blue fish, the menhaden men turned their attention to the coast of New Jersey, but the native fishermen have never taken kindly to the business. Hence 80 per cent. of the menhaden fishermen who are scooping the fish from the coast of New Jersey are from either Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut or Long Island.

At the mouth of the Mullica are two factories that employ three steamers between them, and one of these steamers in one week's time during July landed at the Adams factory, New Gretna, 712,000 fish. Any day scores of these steamers may be seen in a short trip along the coast.

The menhaden men claim that the fish they take are not fit for food, but the nets they use are intended to catch the small mossbunkers, hence it is impossible for the larger fish to escape. Where the bunkers are, also, it is always found that they are followed by shoals of blue fish and other game and food fish. Hence it is impossible to surround them with the purse nets without inclosing the food fish also. But all are bunkers which once get into the nets of the menhaden boats.

There seems to be no way under present laws of restricting this wholesale slaughter of food fish. Twelve years ago A.C.B. Havens, then Senator from Ocean County, after a hard fight succeeded in passing three bills in the Legislature which would have stopped the evil, but Governor Ludlow, on a very labored opinion from Attorney-General Stockton, allowed the bills to die.

During General William J. Sewell's term as United States Senator he attempted to get Congress to take action in the matter. But New Jersey stood alone. The Western Congressmen thought it no concern of theirs, the New England representatives were in the interest of the capital invested in the fish oil factories, and the South Atlantic States were not awake to the fact that they would be the next to suffer from the menhaden pirates. So nothing has been done, and in 1892 the fish factory men had the audacity to introduce a bill, which was favorably reported in the Fisheries Committee, allowing purse net fishing in all inlets, bays and rivers under the jurisdiction of the United States. But the very audacity of this bill killed it.

​THE DEADLY FISH POUND

The fish pounds from Mantoloking up to Sandy Hook are becoming almost a destroyer of the food fish as are menhaden steamers. To be sure, the fish pounds are stationary, while the steamers cruise after the fish everywhere, but the pounds are built in the very lines of travel always pursued by the food fish, and with long outstretched wings take in whole schools of fish. At Elberon and Sea Bright this summer between three and four hundred thousand pounds have been caught in two days.

The immense shoals of fish crowded in the pounds cause large numbers of them to die and render them unmarketable. Senator Bradley, at Asbury Park, has been compelled to keep men patrolling the beach to pick up these dead fish. So many fish have been caught in the past three weeks by these pounds that the city markets have been glutted and thousands and thousands of pounds of fish had to be thrown away.

Not only is there no apparent law to prevent these depredations of ocean fishermen, but net fishermen have become so bold that in the close waters of Barnegat Bay in defiance of law they scoop with drift nets the channels, both day and night. Where a few years ago there were sheepshead shipped by the hundreds of pounds daily to the city markets, now there is hardly one of that gamy fish to be found.

Ten years ago it was by no means uncommon for fishing parties in Barnegat Bay to catch from six hundred to a thousand weakfish in a few hours' time. Now two hundred is boasted of for days, and the party that gets a half dozen fish apiece is considered as doing fairly well. Notwithstanding the direct law that no nets must be used in Barnegat Bay from May 1 to November 1, ever since the weakfish entered the bay last June the channels have been swept by nets.

​New Jersey's game laws are supposed to be enforced by a Game and Fish Commission consisting of George Pfeifier, Jr., of Camden; Parker W. Page, of Summit; W. Campbell Clark, of Newark; and Howard P. Frothingham, of Mt. Arlington. Thomas Maskell, of Morristown, is State Game and Fish Protector, and each county has two Fish Wardens. The wardens patrol the inland streams but make no effort to enforce the law along the coast.

The hotel proprietors and property owners along the shore are beginning to recognize the fact that if it were devoid of its attraction as a fishing resort it would lose many of its most frequent visitors, and a movement has been started to check the menhaden pirates and net fishermen who are depleting the fish supply.

​FOOD FISH MUST BE PROTECTED

Captain Ike Jennings, of Harvey Cedars, says: "The menhaden fishermen are certainly ruining the hook and line fishing. Where there are plenty of young menhaden for food there you will always find good fishing. But these menhaden steamers send their boats within a few yards of shore, between the bar and the beach, and scoop up everything that can be found, so that nowadays squidding for blue fish in the surf is almost a thing of the past. Only this week I counted eight menhaden steamers right off Harvey Cedars. The United States should unite with Great Britain--as that country long since requested us to--and forbid menhaden fishing within three miles and a half of land."

Pilot Commissioner Henry C. Gulick, of Barnegat, says practically the same thing. Ex-Senator A.C.B. Havens, now clerk of Ocean County, has long made the fishing interests a study. He says: "The State should assume authority to act in the case of the menhaden fishermen."

Captain Jacob Birdsall, of Waretown, says: "I have counted this summer as many as fourteen menhaden steamers lying at the mouth of Barnegat Bay, directly in the Inlet. Net fishing must be abolished, and the fish pound as well, or angling at the Jersey coast resorts will be wiped out, and it will be a short time only when there will be no fish in Barnegat Bay."

​At Forked River, Byron E. Eno, proprietor of the Riverside House, who has made salt water fish conditions a study for years says: "Menhaden fishing is destroying one of the largest industries along our coast, and is beside seriously endangering our food supply. Before the advent of the menhaden and pound fishermen hundreds and thousands of families along the Jersey coast were comfortably supported by hook and line fishing, the market was steady, never glutted and the supply was sufficient. The menhaden boats diminished the supply and caused the introduction of the fish pound to supply the market. I think they should be compelled to keep off shore at least seven miles."

These are sample opinions of the influential men along the shore on the menhaden question, and a sentiment is being created by these marauders that will result in a determined effort to protect food fish along the New Jersey coast.

Open Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays - 10 am to 2 pm
78 East Water Street, Toms River, NJ 08753
Guided Tours By Request - New Members Always Welcome
(732) 349-9209 - [email protected]

Welcome to Toms River Seaport Society’s (Mari)Time-Warp, taking our supporters back through the nautical history of the Barnegat Bay and Toms River watershed areas!

This week dive into life around the Barnegat Bay summer season, as covered by the Jersey City News on August 10th, 1897 and rediscovered thanks to Newspapers.com.

BARNEGAT'S SEASON.

Crowds of Visitors at the Old South Jersey Resorts.

GOOD FISHING AND SAILING

Sport Universally Fine--How to Get There and What the Trip Costs.

"I don't know when we ever had as many Newarkers down here as we have since the rains ceased," said a Forked River hotel man on Tuesday. They might have said the same thing at Barnegat, Waretown, Toms River or the "Pier," for the visit of Newarkers to all points on the bay amounted almost to an invasion last week.

The reason of it is that Newarkers know a good thing, and just now there is no better place than Barnegat Bay for anglers or gunners, camping parties or yachting people. The weather last week was perfect--neither too warm or too cool. The breezes were constant and at no time stiff enough to cause any but the most cautious sailors to resort to reefing. There was no fog during the week, and the only drawback to the complete enjoyment of the delightful weather was the swarms of mosquitoes which swooped down at night when the wind died out. Barnegatters are used to mosquitoes, however, and no house is without its netting. Campers fight the little pests with smudges, and some folks try to disgust the insects by anointing themselves with pennyroyal or pine tar lotions. They say down there that mosquitoes never deterred a Newarker from visiting the bay, and never drove one away, although New Yorkers were frequently dismayed and retired vanquished by the little pests. When a visitor was anathematizing the mosquitoes on Monday night, Captain Ed Parker said:--"Pshaw, 'skeeters don't amount to anything. Just wait till the green heads get at you." "Green heads" are little cattle flies, which come out to the boat to look for you while fishing. They are not many, but they are quite warm and extremely persistent, says the Newark "Sunday Call."

Now, having told what the disagreeable features of life at Barnegat Bay are, it will be only fair to speak of some of the attractions of the place, with a little description for those who have no well defined idea of the lay of the land and the water.

The bay is a little over thirty miles long, four miles wide in the widest part and nowhere more than twelve or fifteen feet deep. The northern extremity of the bay is at Bay Head, a mile and a half below Point Pleasant. Its eastern boundary is a narrow strip of sand dunes and salt marsh, running southward for twenty-three miles from Manasquan inlet to Barnegat inlet. This is Barnegat Beach, and at its widest part it is scarcely a mile in width, taking into consideration the marsh on the inner side. In many places the width of the strip is less than an eighth of a mile, and it seems strange that the sea does not cut through it in stormy weather. On this beach are Mantoloking, Chadwick's, Lavallette, Ortley, Berkeley and Sea Side Park. The latter is half way between Bay Head and Barnegat inlet, and the Pennsylvania Railroad runs to this point, then turns westward, crossing the shallow bay on a trestle bridge nearly 3,000 yards in length and running to Island Heights and Toms River on the river of that name. There are three life-saving stations and one or two fishing and shooting huts on the beach below the bridge. Altogether there are eleven life-saving stations on the outer shore of the bay.

Barnegat inlet is about 1,500 yards or less than a mile in width, and is navigable at high tide for vessels drawing ten feet of water. On the southern side of the inlet is a tall brick lighthouse and the quaint settlement known as Barnegat City, which contains two hotels, one of which is so large that it has never been filled up. Five miles below the lighthouse on this strip of sand known as Long Beach is the famous Harvey's Cedars, one of the most retired and most attractive spots on the Jersey coast. It is famous only for its fishing and shooting, but it is a difficult place to get at except by means of a yacht. There is a railroad on Long Beach, running out from Manahawkin, but it is a most discouraging sort of a road. This finishes the outer coast of Barnegat Bay, except that a pleasant spot has been neglected in passing.

Half a mile or more inside of the north point of the inlet are two island separated by a narrow creek. They are known as the Great Sedge, and one of them is occupied by Dr. Warner's shooting box, a comfortable big cottage which for two seasons has been open to the public. It is now a well patronized boarding place, and is convenient to the best shooting and fishing points on the bay, though inconvenient to reach from the railroad. Great Sedge is five miles across the bay from either Forked River landing or Waretown station.

​On the inner side of the bay Toms River is the first railroad town having access to the good fishing waters. It is a most picturesque and attractive town five miles up the river from the bay. The navigation is easy, and a big fleet of yachts make the head of the river their anchorage. The town has two large hotels and a number of boarding houses, and is undoubtedly the prettiest place on the road as well as the most important and thriving. Six miles further down the road is Lanoka, formerly called Cedar Creek, which has a few yachts doing business upon the bay.

Three miles further south is the town to which nearly all the Newarkers go when they want fishing. It is called Forked River, because it lies upon a stream with three branches which take a winding course through the meadows. There are three good hotels in the village proper, and one large one at the landing, a mile down the road toward the bay. The most popular hotel with the anglers is undoubtedly the old one known as the Lafayette House, which was kept for years by the late Sheriff Parker, and is now run by his son-in-law, Asa Tilton, in exactly the same manner. He believes in high feeding for horse or man. "Keep 'em well fed and they'll be careful," Asa says, and everything is put on the table so that a guest can get all he wants. An ordinary breakfast for one guest on Monday morning consisted of an omelette, a steak, two fried soft crabs, clam fritters, muffins, a broiled weakfish, fried potatoes, slices tomatoes and coffee. Of course he could not eat it all, but he remarked that he did much better than when he arrived at the place a week previous.

As a family resort, the Riverside House, kept by B.E. Eno, at the landing down the river, is extremely popular and at the same time it entertains many angling parties. It has a big farm in conjunction with the hotel, and the eggs, milk and vegetables are produced on the place. A long string of yachts occupy the front of the hotel landing.

The price per day for a Barnegat Bay yacht, going out from Forked River, is $4 [$147 in 2023 dollars]. They are nearly all roomy, half-cabin catboats, well fitted with cushions, folding table, camp stools and deck seats and carrying ice and ice water with facilities for keeping other things, which some anglers regard as indispensable, such as bottled beer and soft drinks. The captain of the boat is engaged over night and asks a few stereotyped questions about bait and beverages required. He gets up early and stocks up the boat. The hotel keeper prepares lunch for the party and the captain and it is always more than they can eat. If the party is stopping in the village, the hotel stage takes the members to the landing with their tackle and lunch, and the boat is found ready to start. The boat is sailed or poled out of the shallow water into the open bay, where there is nearly always wind enough to fill the sail. If there is not, it does not matter much, for it would be difficult to find a place in the bay where the "setting" pole will not reach bottom. The run to the fishing grounds is usually a speedy and pleasant sail, and whether at anchor or drifting the sport is just now assured. It is due to the worst kind of mismanagement if a Barnegat captain fails to find weakfish now, and he can give his patrons a chance to catch 400 school fish or four dozen big tide runners, as they may elect. At the same time he is keeping his eye open for bluefish, which have been abundant this season, and if he sees a school he will quickly get out his squids and cruise for these coveted fish. Big, tide-running weakfish, however, are the chief dependence, and they give excellent sport upon a light rod. A three pound weakfish will fight for five or ten minutes if the angler cares to play him on a six ounce rod with light tackle, which is not strong enough to yank him right out of the water. Most visitors to the bay, however, are equipped with stout rods capable of bringing the biggest fish quickly to boat, unless the tackle breaks, as it frequently does with the first rush of a heavy fish. Shedder crabs is the only bait to be considered in weakfishing unless after school fish, which at times will bite at anything white, even though it may be nothing but a piece of cotton.

There are places in the bay where the angler may catch plaice, seabass and porgies, and occasionally a few fine sheepshead are taken but the mainstay is weakfish. Striped bass are plentiful in the channels, but the fishing for them must be done by trolling from rowboats, as the yachts cannot go where the bass congregate. Blood worms are used in catching bass, and for two seasons they have been supplied by the bait catchers at Forked River. They did not know what they were or how to get them until several New Yorkers displayed them two years ago and told how they were obtained.

While Forked River has more boats and better facilities for anglers than any other place on the bay, there are two other much visited resorts further down the bay. One is Waretown and the other is the ancient village of Barnegat, with its two hotels and a few boarding houses. It is the father of all fishing places on the bay, and sends out a dozen boats per day in the busy season, catering to a lot of old-time visitors to the bay and feeling that no other place has so good a right to exist. It is a quaint and almost pathetic old village, reeking with history and full of historians, many of whom have traveled the world over as masters of deep water vessels.

Getting to Barnegat Bay from Newark is considerable of an enterprise, and one might go to Baltimore as quickly as some of the trains take one to Forked River. There is a train which leaves the foot of Liberty street, New York, at 4:30 A.M. and arrives at Forked River at 8:35, covering a distance of seventy-six miles in a little over four hours. Other trains do a little better, perhaps an hour better. The Newarker changes at Elizabethport, Red Bank and Manchester on most of the trains, although there is a train in the afternoon which does not make the latter change. Within a month the Central Railroad Company has put on a Sunday train, which leaves New York at 9:15 A.M. and can be caught by taking a train from the Broad street station in this city at 9:30. It arrives at Forked River before noon and returns from there at 6:44, arriving here before ten o'clock. Anglers say that it would be better patronized if it started two or three hours earlier and gave them a chance to spend six or seven hours on the bay. They could certainly get all the fishing they wanted in that time. The hotelkeepers along the bay do not like the Sunday train, because it takes so many of their guests away who would otherwise pay for bed and breakfast, and brings down few who stay for dinner.

Open Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays - 10 am to 2 pm
78 East Water Street, Toms River, NJ 08753
Guided Tours By Request - New Members Always Welcome
(732) 349-9209 - [email protected]

Welcome to a new feature by the Toms River Seaport Society, the (Mari)Time-Warp, taking our supporters back through the nautical history of the Barnegat Bay and Toms River watershed areas!

This week, a peek into the founding of Lanoka Harbor (part of Lacey Township today) by George M. Lane, as covered by the Daily Press of Asbury Park on August 22nd, 1892 and rediscovered thanks to Newspapers.com.

​THE FOUNDING OF A NEW TOWN

BEAUTIFUL LANOKA.

The founder or projector of a city, village, hamlet, or resort, is always among the first who are entitled to a place upon the honor-roll that is kept in the mind of the public, as well as upon the pages of books and newspapers.

This, for the very reason that the projector or founder is always a developer, a creator of the scores of enterprises that invariably of necessity follow in the train of new or growing settlements. This preface is justly called for as an introduction to a gentleman who has been one of Asbury Park's most valuable citizens so far as his public service is concerned, (as the ensuing history of his life will show,) while he ias at present in the midst of the work of founding a new community.

Reference is made to Mr. George M. Lane, the projector of the beautiful locality known as Lanoka, in Ocean County, and formerly known as Cedar Creek.

The past career of this gentleman is so favorably and well known that it is but necessary to state that he came to Asbury Park in 1880, since which time he has always taken an active part in business affairs. Mr. Lane was the organizer of the Asbury Park Electric Light Works and acted as Secretary and Superintendent of the Company until about July, when, finding that the routine of business was undermining his health, he decided to resign from his duties as an active officer. However, Mr. Lane retains his interest as a stockholder and director.

In addition to his financial interests, he is the owner of a number of valuable patents which he will now have an opportunity to develop. Among these inventions may be mentioned a station indicator designed to do away with the present annoying process used to inform passengers of their destinations; a self-regulating arc lamp; a telegraph key and sounder; insulating joints for electrical fixtures; and a carbon so constructed that it will burn all night in a single lamp, thus dispensing with the complicated mechanism required in the ordinary all-night lamp, etc.

Added to Mr. Lane's recent ventures is the purchase of a splendid plot of land at Lanoka which he has laid out in building lots and is now offering to the public.

​The locality of Lanoka is well known to people who frequent Barnegat Bay for fishing, sailing and other recreative benefits, and it is the object of the projector of this new resort to give residence to those who seek these diversions directly at the place they are found. The popular fishing banks of Barnegat Bay are abreast of Cedar Creek, or Lanoka, and a desirable but unsettled portion is now proposed to be opened up for new people and summer cottages, while the shores of Cedar Creek and the bay form favorite sites for club houses.

Lanoka is situated on the main shore road, six miles from Toms River, and but three miles from Forked River, a resort attracting hundreds of people annually for the excellent fishing and other natural advantages this bay district affords.

Lanoka is reached by railroad from New York and Philadelphia; has a good hotel, school, stores, and is situated in the midst of oak groves overlooking Barnegat Bay and the beach. Cedar Creek, from which the original village took its name, is an ever-flowing stream fed by numerous tributaries in a vast stretch of back farm-land country and empties itself into Barnegat Bay. The conditions surrounding Lanoka are exceptionally favorable for the development of this section of seashore.

It is proposed to establish a canning factory at Lanoka, and for natural advantages it would be impossible to select a more favorable location; inasmuch as it is surrounded by some of the finest trucking land in the state of New Jersey. The surrounding country is rich in the growth of berries of every description, which may be purchased at an exceedingly low price. However, this is but one of the manifold advantages to be derived from a residence at Lanoka.

​Geographically speaking, its proximity to Barnegat Bay would enable the canning factory to run the entire year, as the canning of oysters, terrapin, clams, etc., with which the Bay abounds, could be carried on during the winter months.

Mr. Lane's business experience alone speaks for the exceptionally advantageous features of Lanoka; for hs is by great odds too level-headed and far-observing to be induced to take upon his shoulders a venture in which he could not see his way clearly, or that he did not deem absolutely worthy of all the time and attention that he bestowed upon it.

Mr. Lane's past business career gives ample proof that he never makes a business move without first consulting its merits, after which he pushes it for all that there is in it, but in such a way and upon principles that are wholly within keeping of the operations of an honorable business man.

There is no doubt but Mr. Lane has a worthy and profitable venture in Lanoka; and it is but a question of time before it will be one of the most popular and frequented resorts along the eastern coast of the state.

A feature of Lanoka which should not be overlooked is the fact that new towns are springing up along Barnegat Bay. The facilities afforded for sailing and steam yachts between Lanoka and these cities of the future will open up numerous pleasure jaunts, that will go far toward giving that variety which is the spice of life, even in pleasure making as well as the soberer moments of existence.

Open Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays - 10 am to 2 pm
78 East Water Street, Toms River, NJ 08753
Guided Tours By Request - New Members Always Welcome
(732) 349-9209 - [email protected]