To mark the centennial of Ship Bottom’s becoming an independent municipality, I am looking back at the stories that helped create the town’s identity.

In January 1903, several events took place on Long Beach Island that helped to inspire a series of stories and a book that would create much of what is known as “the lure of Long Beach.”

Winter on the Island was a time of quiet. The hotels in Beach Haven and Barnegat Light were closed, and even avid outdoorsmen stayed home.