The Beach Haven Heritage Trail has been selected for funding by the New Jersey Historic Trust in its competitive statewide grant round. According to the trail’s sponsor, the Friends of Beach Haven, it is one of only two projects in the state chosen in the Heritage Tourism category, which recognizes initiatives that improve the visitor experience at historic sites.

The trust has recommended giving a $67,664 grant from the Preserve New Jersey Historic Preservation Fund to the organization, which was established in 2024 to improve public parks and places within Beach Haven. The money would be used to build a self-guided walking trail of historic landmarks. The awards now go to the Garden State Preservation Trust, followed by legislative appropriation and the governor’s approval.

“Being chosen in a statewide competition tells us the Historic Trust sees what we see: Beach Haven’s story is the story of the Jersey Shore summer, and so much of it is still standing on our streets,” said Ken Rubin, president of the Friends of Beach Haven. “We have all the ingredients: the history, the architecture, the people who care about it. Now we have the funding to tell our story.”

Founded in 1874 by Archelaus R. Pharo, Beach Haven is listed on both the national and New Jersey registers of historic places. It has one of the most intact collections of Victorian seaside resort architecture on the New Jersey coast.

“I’ve always believed Beach Haven’s history belongs out on our streets, not only in books and museums,” said Jeanette Lloyd, Beach Haven historian. “When you stand where the Engleside Hotel once stood, or walk past the cottages built in the 1870s, you understand this town in a way no book can give you. This trail lets everyone have that experience.”

The borough council approved the project last spring. The first marker was unveiled at Beach Haven Heritage Day at the northwest corner of Veterans Park. It marks the site of the Engleside Hotel, a 300-guest Quaker-run resort that operated from 1876 until it was demolished in 1943. Additional markers will be unveiled at Heritage Day next May 22.

Trail markers will stand on public, commercial and private properties across the historic district, the bayfront and the business district. Each marker will have historic photographs, a short history and a QR code linking to a mobile-friendly website with expanded stories and maps. The public works department will install the signs. Local historians and volunteers from Beach Haven’s museums are researching and writing the content.

“The response from the community has been wonderfully enthusiastic,” said Sally Poblete of the Friends group. “We’re collaborating with our museums, businesses and homeowners to tell a collective story that’s unique to Beach Haven, and it’s a genuinely interesting one.”

Trail sites will include:

  • The Boardwalk and Fishing Pier. It was built because blowing sand kept drifting into the Engleside Hotel. In 1917 it grew into a lighted, 22-block promenade with benches and shops, until the Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944 washed it away.
  • The Pennsylvania Railroad Station. Beginning in the mid-1880s, it brought vacationers straight from Philadelphia. Service ended after a 1935 storm destroyed the trestle bridge.
  • The Parry House. Beach Haven’s first grand hotel opened in 1874 and burned just seven years later. Its loss led directly to the founding of Holy Innocents’ Church.
  • The Baldwin Hotel. This 400-guest Victorian showplace had electric lights and hydraulic elevators. It was one of the grandest resorts on the Jersey Shore until fire destroyed it in 1960.
  • Twin Sisters Cottage. Completed in June 1874 as one of Beach Haven’s first two homes, it was built by town founder Archelaus Pharo for his friend Dr. Albert Smith, a noted Philadelphia physician. It still stands on Second Street as a rare example of the town’s earliest Victorian architecture.
  • Williams Cottage. This 1888 Queen Anne mansion is known locally for its onion dome. It is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was saved from demolition and was carefully restored between 2004 and 2007.
  • The original Holy Innocents’ Church, which now houses the Long Beach Island Historical Association Museum.
  • The Fisherman’s Cottage, still standing. It was home to baymen who fished, crabbed and oystered, and who physically built the Island before there was a bridge to carry materials.
  • The Marlin & Tuna Club. It succeeded the 1916 Beach Haven Tuna Club, whose invitation-only membership once included Ernest Hemingway, Babe Ruth and Zane Grey.
  • The Little Egg Harbor Yacht Club. It was founded in 1912, and its 1916 clubhouse still stands largely intact.
  • Walsh Field. The town’s baseball field from 1926 was home field to major leaguer Roger “Doc” Cramer and later a World War II National Guard camp.
  • Ostendorff’s Garage. Built in 1912 to service the chauffeured cars of wealthy summer residents, it held more than 200 vehicles and was once among the largest garages on the East Coast.

“Historic sites tell a story of who we are from the 1800s to the present day,” said Councilwoman Catherine “Kitty” Snyder, who spearheaded the effort to create the nonprofit organization. “We protect our history and strengthen our town. I want to thank the borough council and the administration for their support and collaboration on this project.”