New York Tribune, May 16th, 1916

Click the image to enlarge:

Welcome!

Welcome to the Beachwood Historical Alliance website. Though we have been a group with little activity for about a year, we’re looking to restart our monthly meetings and gather members new and old for the coming spring, summer and fall seasons. If you would be interested in joining or learning more about our organization, please send us an e-mail to beachwoodhistoricalalliance@gmail.com.

Thanks!

Erik Weber, Director

Scenes Along the River: Late Night at Beachwood’s Downtown and Waterfront

This article originally appeared in the Riverside Signal on August 3rd, 2010. It has been reprinted below. The Riverside Signal can be found at www.RiversideSignal.com

BEACHWOOD – Today we have a quick look at a late summer night in downtown Beachwood and along the waterfront.

Enjoy!

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Clancy's, located on the southwest corner of the Beachwood Circle, was once home to multiple shops, including a soda counter in the 1940s.

This gas and service station has stood on the corner of Mermaid Avenue and Atlantic City Boulevard since the early years of Beachwood.

Wanda Lohr's Japanese pagoda house was built in January 1917 and sits on the corner of Brigantine Street and Capstan Avenue.

The borough has been making progress toward replacing the aging concession stand and bathrooms at Mayo Park for a number of years.

Original borough home of Addison Doane Nickerson, the civil engineer and builder who surveyed, planned, and cleared Beachwood for development. Located across from the entrance to Beachwood Beach.

The borough boardwalk was reinstalled in 1995 following a decades-long absence when storms washed out the original boardwalk that connected the beachfront to the yacht club and boat slips. Its path winds its way past the original springs, located at the end of Spring Street.

A sailboat broke from its mooring and drifted against the Beachwood boardwalk late last week.

Scenes Along the River – Beachwood, July 2010

This article originally appeared in the Riverside Signal on July 19th, 2010. It has been reprinted below. The Riverside Signal can be found at www.RiversideSignal.com

BEACHWOOD – Today we’re featuring our photo and video essay of life in Beachwood for the first half of July.

Enjoy!

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Beachwood Blowout Junior Regatta

hosted by the Beachwood Yacht Club

Beachwood Yacht Club's Barbara Walling.

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Beachwood Luau

hosted by the Beachwood Municipal Alliance

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Motorboat Races off Beachwood Beach

The above races were held by the East Coast Boat Racing Club of New Jersey. Their website can be found at http://www.ecbrcnj.com.

Borough Fireworks a Decades-Long Tradition

This article originally appeared in the Riverside Signal on July 13th, 2010. It has been reprinted below. The Riverside Signal can be found at www.RiversideSignal.com

by Erik Weber

BEACHWOOD – Last week, thousands of area residents lined the banks and side streets along the Toms River to witness the borough’s Fourth of July fireworks display, here.

Many in attendance likely did not know that the show, which today is a carefully planned and executed annual volley of pyrotechnic glory put on by a professional contractor, holds roots dating back to earlier days of the borough fire company, when million-dollar event insurance was a fantasy, funds for each successive year were collected by passed-around tin cans, and the explosives were purchased and transported from Maryland in the back of a station wagon.

Fireworks on the Toms River: A Look Back

George W. Symington, a 56-year member and past chief of the borough fire company, recalled earlier incarnations of the fireworks display and Fourth of July daytime games, which have not been held for many years.

Confirming earlier memories given by Beverly Clayton, a borough councilwoman, lifetime resident and current member of the borough fireworks committee, he said that the earlier fireworks displays were dug into the sand at the beach and then lit by members of the fire company with cigars.

“We had a few close calls, but thank God nobody ever got hurt bad,” the past fire chief said. “But then, we were very good at it.”

He said that the collection of funds for the following year’s display started even while the current year’s show was going on.

“We had rowboats with outboard motors on them, and four containers, and we went to every boat in the water,” Mr. Symington said. “There used to be, oh God, hundreds of boats out there – you almost could walk across river on top of the boats.”

“While that was going on, other people in the fire company auxiliary went anyplace [the fireworks] could be seen from,” he continued. “They walked the beach up to Toms River, down past the golf course to Point ‘O’ Woods and down the river on this side to Pine Beach.”

“Whatever we collected – nickels, dimes, quarters, maybe $1,000 or $1,500 – all had to be hand counted and hand rolled and taken to the bank,” the longtime fire company member said. “That’s what we used for the next year’s fireworks.”

After sufficient funds were totaled and deposited, he said that he would order next year’s batch from Keystone Fireworks of Pennsylvania, who would ship them down near the state border at Elkton, Maryland. Mr. Symington then jumped in his station for the over two-hour drive.

The Delaware Memorial Bridge.

“The station wagon would be loaded from front to back, top to bottom, with just enough room for me to sit and drive,” he recalled. “I would then drive across the Delaware Memorial Bridge, stop for lunch with the loaded car sitting there in the parking lot, and then when I got home I loaded it all into the basement of my house for safe keeping til the Fourth of July.”

“It could probably have put the house in orbit if it ever caught fire,” the past fire chief speculated, laughing about his memories driving the explosives cache across the interstate bridge and leaving it to sit next to the diner where he ate lunch.

Fourth of July sack races at Beachwood Beach, circa 1940s.

When Independence Day finally arrived, he said, the entire waterfront was a beehive of activity for most of the day, with land and water games bringing many borough and area residents and their families out to celebrate the holiday together.

“The first aid squad and fire company went down to the ballpark on top of the hill there, and we ran the land games from 10 til noon,” Mr. Symington stated. “Three-legged races, egg tosses, stuff like that – then we went home for lunch.”

An hour later, he said, everyone returned to begin the water games.

“We had diving contests, swimming races, stuff like that until maybe about four,” the past chief continued. “Then at six we came back to the beach to start digging the trenches to put the steel mortars in.”

Crowds line the Beachwood Beach shoreline to view the water games, circa 1942. In this picture, spectators look on as the watermelon scramble takes place.

The size of the shot used at the time for the regular part of the show, he recalled, were between three and five inches in diameter, while the finale packs came in at about twelve.

“It was like a 60-shot finale, and we had to fuse them ourselves and tie the string around and make sure it was tight so that it carried from one twelve inch to the next,” Mr. Symington said. “Also, there used to be a permanent 8-foot by 10 foot floating dock in the water maybe 75 or 100 feet offshore, and in the afternoon myself, my son and a couple of firemen would float out on top of a rowboat and put two set pieces on top of it – one had the American flag, and the other said ‘Goodnight.’”

His son, George C. “Mickey” Symington, joined the fire company in 1979 and is today also a past chief.

As daylight turned to twilight and eventually night, the firemen were joined by first aid squad members who stood by as thousands of area residents and tourists filled the beach, bluffs and general waterfront areas, with hundreds more small craft moored offshore for the show.

As the show went on and the fund-raising cans were passed around the riverfront, Mr. Symington said he and his son would slip away and prepare for part of the grand finale.

“Pretty close to the end, my son and I would swim out on our backs with cigars in our mouths to the floating dock,” he recalled. “On my signal the guys on the shore would light off the finale, and as soon as the finale was just about done my son and I would light the two pieces, shake hands, dive the hell overboard and swim back.”

“We always shook hands,” he noted.

Longtime Beachwood resident Geoff Brown remembered watching the fireworks while growing up.

“As a family we watched the fireworks from the yacht club dock in the 50s [today the T-dock in front of the Community Center, which is the former site of the earlier yacht club building], as it was at the foot of our street, Brigantine,” he said. “The show was about 20 minutes [long] and always ended with a parachute with an American flag.”

“There were still few ‘speedboats’ on the river,” he added. “However, some would race in the dark to capture the flag.”

Above, a photo taken by Mr. Brown's my wife, Bunny, on Dec. 29, 1958, of the three Beachwood lifeguards of that summer. From left: Joe McCulley, Dave Melchinger and Bob Glenny. "Dave is Bunny's older brother. My sister Robin, then 8 years old, had a huge crush on the lifeguards, especially Dave."

Over the years, the past fire chief said, the culture of the waterfront and putting on the fireworks display changed with the introduction of more regulations, pollution of the Toms River by the Ciba-Geigy chemical plant and influx of new residents not as heavily involved in the annual tradition.

After the fire company stopped hosting the land and water games, he recalled, the borough recreation commission kept it up for a while but also eventually abandoned it due to lack of interest.

“I was also a lifeguard and we used to have about 400 people a day on that beach,” said Mr. Symington. “But then with people starting to get pools and Ciba dumping into the river, everything like that sort of dwindled down.”

“It’s a sin, we’ve got the most beautiful beach on the river and now it only gets about a half dozen people a day,” he added.

After a woman was killed as a result of a fireworks accident in the Seaside Heights area, Mr. Symington said, the fire company was told they would need to come up with a million-dollar insurance policy for the annual display.

From there, he stated, the borough established a “Bang Committee” with members of the fire company, first aid squad and other residents in town that was able to continue the annual event through sponsors and contracted pyrotechnic firms.

Fireworks on the Toms River: The Modern Era

Above, Beachwood’s Fireworks on the Toms River grand finale, as shot by YouTube member Stealthlsc.

Today, the fireworks display on the Toms River is still hosted by Beachwood Borough through the contemporary equivalent of the “Bang Committee,” said Gerald W. “Jerry” Lacrosse, a former councilman and current member of what is now called simply the Fireworks on the Toms River Committee.

With feedback from the 2010 display, particularly the grand finale, sitting squarely in the “very positive” end of the spectrum, he said the year-round work to hold the event was well worth it.

“I’ve gotten nothing but compliments on it,” the committee member said, adding that during the show, “the boats out in river just went bananas,” sounding horns and sirens and flashing lights, and that “the crowd was very pleased with it.”

Picking up where the fire company left off, he recalled that he was first asked to serve on the committee sometime in the early 1990s by then-Mayor William T. “Bill” Hornidge, who wanted to form a coalition committee with surrounding municipalities in order to meet the growing demand for regulation and high insurance costs.

Included in the early coalition were Dover Township Mayor Clarence E. “Bud” Aldrich III, Island Heights Mayor David Siddons, and Pine Beach Mayor Russell Corby.

“Those four guys put together what we call the ‘Fireworks on the Toms River Committee’, and off we went,” said Mr. Lacrosse, who said early sponsors were Adelphia Cable, before it was purchased and became Comcast Cable; the Asbury Park Press, before it was purchased and became a Gannett-run publication; and 92.7 WOBM. Comcast and 92.7 WOBM continue as sponsors today.

“It just snowballed – we hired professional pyrotechnic outfits to put on the show, rather than us going out and purchasing five, ten or fifteen thousand dollars’ worth of fireworks,” he continued, adding that a lot of contributions came in from area residents. “We had little canisters in a lot of different stores, and people put in dimes, quarters, dollars and whatever else, and we had enough to hire the companies that came in.”

In the years since the formation of the committee, the former councilman said, between four and five different pyrotechnic firms were hired. The current company, Pennsylvania-based Schaefer Pyrotechnics, was contracted for the 2010 through 2012 displays.

For about the past decade, he added, the committee and display have “mostly been a Beachwood effort,” as the original mayors from surrounding municipalities who formed the committee either retired or passed away. The current committee consists of former Beachwood mayor, Hal Morris, current Beachwood councilwoman, Beverly Clayton, Mr. Lacrosse and Kevin Williams from 92.7 WOBM.

Although sponsorship continues from some of the original corporate entities, “a good portion of the money that goes to put the show on comes from the general population,” Mr. Lacrosse said.

“It has always been a Beachwood kind of show, ever since the fire company started it way back when the Borough of Beachwood had their own committee that used taxpayer money [for funding],” he stated, noting that the scale of the display since the new committee took it over has increased. “I believe this year something like 7,200 shells went off, all in 27 minutes, so that’s a lot of booms going off in the air, that’s for darn sure.”

“And a lot of oohs and aahs, too,” the committee member added. “We tried to estimate the area of the sky they take up, and someone said 750 feet or more – that’s a huge explosion.”

In planning this year’s display, billed as the 70th but with acknowledgment that fireworks displays appear to have been hosted by Beachwood even earlier than 1940, Mr. Lacrosse said the committee “wanted something special – you have a lot to see in the finale, a lot of fireworks, but we said, ‘Can we throw in something a little different that people would remember for the next year, at least?’”

The result, he said, was a series of stars, hearts, and red, white and blue bursts alongside their regular synchronization to patriotic music played through 92.7 WOBM, both on the radio and through a sound system at the beach.

In the years since the current committee took on the task of providing the Toms River area with their yearly fix of explosions and color, the committee member noted that they had never once been rained out.

“We’ve come close, and it’s rained right up to the point where we were going to set them off, but we got a one-hour window where the rain stopped for the show, and twenty minutes after the grand finale, it came down in buckets,” he said, joking that he is in charge of the weather on the committee.

In the end, Mr. Lacrosse said, it’s the knowledge that borough and area residents will be able to go home with a smile on their face and the knowledge that next year the show will be there, in bigger and better form, to take their families and friends to.

Area residents interested in seeing the annual show continue to go on are encouraged to make their donations to Fireworks on the Toms River – Beachwood, c/o Beachwood Borough Hall, 1600 Pinewald Road, Beachwood, N.J. 08722. Contributions are accepted year-round.

Repaving, Widening of Beachwood Rail Trail Walk/Bike Path Underway

This article originally appeared in the Riverside Signal on July 9th, 2010. It has been reprinted below. The Riverside Signal can be found at www.RiversideSignal.com

View of the work completed, from Neptune Avenue east to Mermaid Avenue.

by Erik Weber

BEACHWOOD – Beginning yesterday, July 8th, the Ocean County Road Department was on hand to begin the repaving and widening of the the Railroad Avenue section of the Beachwood bike path, here.

The surface improvement was made possible by a grant acquired by Councilwoman Beverly Clayton earlier this year, which will cover the project from Route 9 to Berkeley Avenue. Funding for improvement of the Beachwood Boulevard to Admiral Avenue section has not yet been acquired.

Spreading and smoothing the asphalt.

The old bike path is being widened and repaved by the Ocean County Road Department.

The path, which sits on the former right of way of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, is expected to be connected as part of Ocean County’s Barnegat Branch Rail Trail, a 15.6 mile linear county park spanning from Barnegat to Toms River.

From archival photo caption: "The Jersey Central's Barnegat Branch left the Southern Division at Lakehurst and extended 22.1 miles to its namesake community. On May 1, 1967, the westbound Barnegat local freight rolls through Beachwood about one mile south of Toms River, the seat of Ocean County." The original borough water tower, located at the end of Locker Street, is seen in the distance.

A dump truck trundles up the path formerly occupied by passenger and freight trains that operated on the Central Railroad of New Jersey line in the 20th century.

Passenger service on the original rail line had been discontinued in the early 1950s, and freight service was canceled in the 1970s. A rail station that once stood on the site of the gazebo at Robert Guilmore Park was torn down in in Spring 1962, having outgrown its use as passenger trains no longer ran and the post office, which it previously housed, moved to their current location in November 1957.

The Beachwood Historical Alliance has been collecting photographs of that borough's train depot, shown here shortly before its demolition in the early 1960s, in an effort to bring it back to life as a comfort station on the trail.

With the coming connection to Ocean County’s Barnegat Branch Rail Trail on the former Central Railroad of New Jersey line, the Beachwood Historical Alliance is actively pursuing the reconstruction and re-dedication of the station as a two-restroom facility for trail patrons that could possibly include an indoor borough and railroad history exhibit and could aid in the revitalization of downtown Beachwood.

Scenes Along the River: Beachwood Yacht Club Junior Sailing Program, Launch and Sail

This article originally appeared in the Riverside Signal on July 3rd, 2010. It has been reprinted below. The Riverside Signal can be found at www.RiversideSignal.com

BEACHWOOD – Today we bring you a look at the Beachwood Yacht Club’s Junior Sailing program as they launched and sailed out onto the Toms River on Wednesday, June 30th.

Enjoy!

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The Beachwood Yacht Club Junior Sailing program typically sails Sunfish and Optimists. More on these boats can be found by clicking HERE and HERE.



Further, all area residents, not just those limited to Beachwood Borough, are welcome to join the Beachwood Yacht Club, and owning a boat is not a prerequisite. For more information, go to their official website at www.beachwoodyachtclub.com to find out how you and your family can become part of our area’s rich sailing tradition.

Beachwood-Pine Beach Marlins Have Undefeated Regular Season

This article originally appeared in the Riverside Signal on June 10th, 2010. It has been reprinted below. The Riverside Signal can be found at www.RiversideSignal.com

Win Final Game Against Cubs; Catcher for Cubs Makes Double Play

by Erik Weber

BEACHWOOD-PINE BEACH – With three teams placing first in the Beachwood-Pine Beach Little League, at least one has an extra reason to grin.

The Marlins, a league minor national team, took the Cubs 12-5 in their final regular season game at Mayo Park Tuesday night.

Besides being a big win for that team, one catcher from the Cubs also has reason to be proud, following this double play in the middle of the game:

A full playoff schedule can be found below.

1st Place, Majors: Braves
1st Place, Minor National: Marlins (undefeated)
1st Place, Minor American: White Sox

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Playoff Schedule for Majors:

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Wednesday, June 9th @ 5:30 pm – Mets vs Braves
Thursday, June 10th @ 5:30 pm – Yankees vs Jays at 5:30 pm

Winners play Saturday, June 12th at 9 am
Game 2 is Monday, June 14th at 5:30pm
Game 3 (if necessary) is Wednesday, June 16th at 5:30pm

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Playoff Schedule for Minor National:

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Saturday, June 12th:
Field 1, 11:15 am Cubs (2) vs. Cardinals (3). Cubs are home team.
Field 1, 1:30pm Marlins (1) vs. D’Backs (4). Marlins are the home team.

The winners play a best of 3 series starting on June 15th at 5:30 pm on Field 1, Game 2 on June 17th at 5:30 pm on Field 1, and Game 3 (if necessary) on June 18th at 5:30 pm on Field 1.

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Playoff Schedule for Minor American:

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Monday, June 14th – Angels vs White Sox at 5:30 pm
Tuesday, June 15th – Red Sox vs Royals at 5:30 pm
Wednesday, June 16th – Winners play at 5:30 pm

All games played at Mayo Park, Beachwood.

COME OUT AND SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL LEAGUE PLAYERS!

Scenes Along the River – Memorial Day Parade, Ceremony & Picnic, Beachwood

This article originally appeared in the Riverside Signal on June 5th, 2010. It has been reprinted below. The Riverside Signal can be found at www.RiversideSignal.com

BEACHWOOD – This past Memorial Day weekend, the Riverside Signal was on hand to document some of the people, places and events taking place around the borough.

This is the final part of our weekend photo essay. Only the first half dozen photos will appear in this stream; to see all the photos (30-plus) click the hyperlink at the bottom of the last photo (this was done to expedite load times for the news stream overall).

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Neilson Monument Park, so named following the death of borough resident William A. Neilson, who enlisted for World War II in the U. S. Army on July 20th, 1942, at age 21, and died as a second lieutenant pilot in the Army Air Force on August 6th, 1944 during operations as part of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of the European Theater that famously began two months earlier and known as D-Day, on June 6th.

Classic cars and fire engines, including those from the Pine Beach Volunteer Fire Company and Manitou Park Volunteer Fire Company, participated in the parade.

Team members from the Beachwood-Pine Beach Little League walked the parade and showed off their uniforms.

One ballplayer caught a glimpse of some candy left behind from the parade route and swooped in to make the grab before anyone else noticed.

Team members of the Beachwood-Pine Beach Girls Softball League also marched during the parade.

Area Brownie Troop 281 joined in the parade procession.

Toms River High School East Marching Raiders provided the soundtrack for the day.

Past borough volunteer fire company chiefs joined their present counterpart after the Memorial Day ceremony. They are, from left, Donald Wiesner, George W. Symington, George "Mickey" Symington, Roger Hull, David Petracca (current chief), and Thomas Miserendino.

The sun beat down during all borough Memorial Day activities, pushing the mercury up toward the 90 degree mark for much of the day.

On line at the hot dog and hamburger stand at Mayo Park during the annual borough picnic.

Many picnicgoers chose to try and keep cool in the shade of the Mayo Park shelter during the Memorial Day picnic.

Rail Trail Celebration on Tap for Saturday

This article originally appeared in the Riverside Signal on June 2nd, 2010. It has been reprinted below. The Riverside Signal can be found at www.RiversideSignal.com

An Official Ocean County Press Release

Train at Beachwood Depot, 1915.

Events Slated for Ocean County’s Barnegat Branch Trail

OCEAN COUNTY – With just more than 3 miles completed, Ocean County’s Barnegat Branch Trail is already providing residents and visitors with a unique view of the natural side of Ocean County.

The trail, which winds through wooded areas and natural lands starting in Barnegat Township and traveling through Waretown so far will be highlighted on National Trails Day, June 5.

“We are encouraging our residents from throughout Ocean County to visit us at the southern start of the Barnegat Branch trail on Saturday, June 5,” said Freeholder Director James F. Lacey, who serves as liaison to the trail. “Wear your sneakers, ride your bike, just take a break and enjoy what nature has to offer right here in your own backyard.”

Since 1993, National Trails Day has inspired thousands of individuals and community groups to take part in activities that promote healthy living and mental well being, protect green space, educate youth and adults on the importance of trails and instill excitement for the outdoors, according to the American Hiking Society, the founder of National Trails Day.

The theme for this year is “Find Your Happy Place.”

Representatives from Ocean County’s Department of Parks and Recreation, the designers of the Barnegat Branch Rail Trail and the Board of Chosen Freeholders will be on hand from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Burr Street parking area in Barnegat Township to offer information about the trail and other related county programs and services.

“I want to encourage everyone to join us and not only learn about our trail but experience it,” Mr. Lacey said.

The Beachwood Historical Alliance has been collecting photographs of that borough's train depot, shown here shortly before its demolition in the early 1960s, in an effort to bring it back to life as a comfort station on the trail to potentially aid the borough's ailing downtown district.

The Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders has been constructing the Barnegat Branch trail in phases with the first two sections completed.

Construction is expected to start in early summer on the third phase of the trail and be completed by the fall.

“This section will travel through a beautiful area of the Pinelands in Ocean County with Cedar Creek being a centerpiece,” the freeholder director added.

The trail, when completed will be a 15.6-mile linear park that runs from Barnegat Township to Toms River Township.

“This park is unique to Ocean County and features areas that residents and visitors may not have been able to experience since they are deep in our natural woods. Each time we add to it, the park grows in popularity, ” he continued.

The Barnegat Branch trail follows the existing right of way of the former Barnegat Branch Division of the Central Railroad of New Jersey.

Over the last 20 years, abandoned railroad lines like the Barnegat Branch Division of the Central Railroad of New Jersey that once ran through a portion of Ocean County have been transformed into trail parks in nearly every state in the country.

“Under the county’s plan, this abandoned rail line is being improved to link Barnegat Township to Toms River Township, and in the process will offer residents and visitors a new type of recreational trail experience,” stated Mr. Lacey.

Upon completion, the Barnegat Branch Trail will join the list of 43 existing and proposed rail trail projects across New Jersey.

The rail right of way, today a bike path, that runs along Railroad Avenue in Beachwood Borough.

To get the trail under way, in October 2002, Ocean County purchased 8.8 miles of the old railroad in three towns – Berkeley, Ocean and Barnegat townships. This purchase was supplemented in 2004 when Lacey Township granted to Ocean County an easement over its 4.8-mile trail segment. Coupled with the existing bike path in Beachwood and the incorporation of a dedicated bike lane along Flint Road in South Toms River, the completed trail will span 15.6 miles from Barnegat Township to Toms River Township.

“The design of the Barnegat Branch Trail is sensitive to the changing landscape of central Ocean County,” the freeholder continued. “Trail visitors will experience wooded areas in Barnegat and Waretown’s southern reach before transitioning into an active-use corridor that parallels Route 9 north of Waretown.

“Residential and commercial neighbors border much of the trail through Lacey Township before it returns to forest and then sand mining in Berkeley Township,” he added.

The primary surface finish of the trail is a stone dust surface. As work progresses, the trail will feature a number of trail facilities including community centers, comfort stations, trail signage and historical exhibits.

The facilities are being built in a style reminiscent of passenger and freight stations that once served Barnegat Township, the Forked River section of Lacey Township, the Pinewald section of Berkeley Township and Toms River.

Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr., who serves as liaison to the Ocean County Department of Parks and Recreation, noted that several Ocean County parks and county natural land areas are located within walking or bicycling distance of the Barnegat Branch Trail including Lochiel Creek in Barnegat Township, Berkeley Island County Park, Wells Mills County Park in Waretown and Enos Pond County Park in Lacey Township.

“This trail not only offers the user the opportunity to see nature at it’s best in Ocean County, it offers access to Ocean County’s premiere park sites,” Mr. Bartlett said. “It’s a perfect combination.”

From archival photo caption: "The Jersey Central's Barnegat Branch left the Southern Division at Lakehurst and extended 22.1 miles to its namesake community. On May 1, 1967, the westbound Barnegat local freight rolls through Beachwood about one mile south of Toms River, the seat of Ocean County."

For more information on the Barnegat Branch rail trail, please visit:

http://www.planning.co.ocean.nj.us/transp-railtrail.htm

For more information on the Beachwood aspect of the rail trail, how rail trails boost local economy and the borough in general, please visit:

http://beachwoodhistoricalalliance.wordpress.com/2009/04/22/rail-trails-provide-local-economic-engine/