Category: Small Museums and Galleries in New Jersey

Sea Isle City Museum 4800 Central Avenue Sea Isle, NJ 08243

Sea Isle City Museum 4800 Central Avenue Sea Isle, NJ 08243

Sea Isle City Museum

4800 Central Avenue

Sea Isle, NJ 08243

(609) 263-2992

https://www.facebook.com/Sea-Isle-City-Historical-Museum-326332320746077/

Contact us

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46807-d10452863-Reviews-Sea_Isle_City_Historical_Museum-Sea_Isle_City_Cape_May_County_New_Jersey.html

The Sea Isle City Museum is located inside the Sea Isle Library at 4800 Central Avenue just off Downtown Sea Isle City, NJ

On a recent trip of touring the small towns of the Jersey shore, I set out to visiting many of the historical societies that tell the histories of these towns and how they have progressed from small Native American fishing villages to the resort and residential towns of today. Each of these museum has their own unique focus to how they tell their story.

The entrance of the museum from the hallway of the library

The Sea Isle City Museum at 4800 Central Avenue is located in the back of the Municipal Building right next to the Sea Isle City Library. This small museum that is manned by volunteers is packed with local historical artifacts, pictures and exhibitions of the items in the museum. You have to walk to the back of the building to find the museum just off the library entrance.

The entrance of the museum

When you walk into the museum, you are greeted by an exhibition of ‘Wedding Dresses through the Ages’, created by curator the late Marie Thompson Stafford, which shows various styles of wedding dresses from 1880 until current day that were worn by brides from Sea Isle City, NJ. Each dress was accompanied in most cases by the owner on her wedding day and gives a unique view of the changing of styles over the last century.

“Wedding Dresses through the Ages”

The back part of the museum is broken down into sections. Part of the museum is an on-going library of the history of the families have lived in town over the generations. What I thought was interesting about this was that each family had their own notebook binder to contribute family history and pictures of the family events. They could update their notebook by coming into the Historical Society and personally adding to the book. There have been 30 years of donations to the museum according to the volunteers.

The main gallery of the museum

The family history binders and the hat collection of the museum

There were also shelves of books on the Sea Isle City School district, the fire department, the police department and the Municipal departments of the town. These featured old pictures of the departments, artifacts over the years and documents of what happened in the town.

The Sea Isle City Police Department history

The Sea Isle City Fire Department history

There was a section on the old hotels and restaurants of Sea Isle City at the turn of the last century until today. Various clapboard Victorian hotels used to line the shores here but many had succumbed to either fires or beach erosion. Several of the old restaurants like Cronecker’s Restaurant had just closed over time.

The founders of the Croneckers Hotel

There was an interesting exhibition on the Sea Isle City Beach Patrol and the members who made up the squad. This is a very important part of the culture of the shore towns and their competitions are a very big deal. You can see the bragging rights of the towns over decades of summers. These lifeguards take their jobs very seriously.

The Beach Patrol display

The Beach Patrol exhibit

Another exhibition was the “Armed Forces in Sea Isle City” and the EMS Armed Patrol. This small exhibition showed the uniforms and items used by the squads who lived in Sea Isle City. It showed the contributions of a small town.

The Military display at the museum

In one corner, there was a display of kitchen wares from the turn of the last century featuring all sorts of kitchen gadgets, an old oven and stove and various household items like an old washing machine that show how things have changed over the year but not by much. We have just modernized what was once considered old.

The kitchen of the past exhibition

There was an interesting exhibition on Toys through time with all sorts of games, books and dolls that children used up until the 1960’s. It still resonates with me the idea of ‘creative play’ when I see these old dolls and how mature they looked. The board games also challenged the mind the way no cellphone will to a young person.

The Toy display

The toy collection at the museum

The dolls of the museum’s collection

This cute baby doll stood out in the museum

The last exhibit I looked at was the town history of Sea Isle City by founder Charles K Landis, who the main street of the town is named after who helped create the town in 1882. He also founded Vineland, NJ. This was a small display of pictures and artifacts of the early settlement.

The history of the town of Sea Isle City, NJ

The Carousel Horse on display

The 1924 Bathing Beauty Contest reminded me of the last scene of ‘The Shining’

Outside the museum is a protected area for the Diamondback Terrapin Turtle as their Nesting Grounds. According to one of the docents, they breed during the Spring and lay their eggs by the shore so the area has to be protected from humans and other wild animals.

The Terrapin preserve outside the museum

Also outside to the side of the building is the Memorial Garden with its seasonal plantings, small waterfall and statue of Neptune. The Garden is located adjacent to the Historical Museum and offers a quiet and relaxing place to enjoy the natural area that surrounds it. You can purchase a paver to help support the museum and to proudly display your family or loved one’s name on our “Memory Lane Walkway”.

The Sea Isle Historical Museum Memorial Garden located to the side of the museum

The Garden in the Summer of 2024

The gardens in full bloom in the Summer of 2024

This wonderful little gem of museum is open during the week and is free to the public. They are always docents and volunteers around to answer questions.

History of the Sea Isle Historical Society:

(from the Sea Isle City Historical Museum website)

In 1982, Sea Isle City celebrated the 100th Anniversary of its founding, an occasion which led to the creation of the Sea Isle City Historical Society and Museum. The museum formally opened on January 26th, 1983 in a temporary space in the city public school and moved 17 months later to a building behind the former City Hall. Harriet Reardon Bailey was elected first president and also served as its Curator for thirty years.

One of the stained glass windows from a local church

In 1990, Michael Stafford was elected President. Mike guided the museum through its next 25 years of growth and recognition in the community, resulting in the many displays and programs described throughout the website. The museum moved to larger quarters at 4208 Landis Avenue in 1995 and subsequently in 2011 to its present modern facility as part of the Sea Isle City Library building. Since his retirement in 2014, Mike Stafford has been succeeded by Mike McHale and then by our current President, Abby Powell.

One of the stained glass windows from a local church in the Judeo-Christian theme

Our Facility:

The museum is designed with an open floor plan to allow easy access as you move from exhibit to exhibit. We also provide an area to sit and conduct research, take notes or simply browse through our many articles, books and thousands of photographs. The museum features a unique bridal gown display, more than 200 family albums generated by the families themselves as well as an abundance of artifacts related to Sea Isle and the surrounding area.

Our Mission:

To acquire, preserve, display, celebrate and promote archives and artifacts relevant to the development of our unique cultural heritage and to delight, inspire and educate present and future generations about the story of Sea Isle City, NJ. The Sea Isle City Historical Society and Museum is a certified 501C3 nonprofit organization.

Our Vision:

To be an inviting, informative, educational and innovative community resource that is recognized and respected as the place for exploring and celebrating the rich cultural heritage of Sea Isle City and the surrounding areas.

The Pfeiffer Memorial Garden:

The sign in the gardens

The Memorial Garden began many years ago at the Pfeiffer’s home in Sea Isle City. In 1996, existing memorial pavers and the statue of Neptune were installed in the Sea Isle City Historical Museum’s Memorial Garden at 4208 Landis Avenue. A formal dedication of the garden tool place on July 8, 2001. In 2001, the Memorial Garden received the coveted Sea Isle Beautification Award.

The garden

On August 4, 2012, the garden was dedicated at its new museum home at 4800 Central Avenue. Today, a project is nearly completed to enhance the garden with new landscaping, a diamondback turtle protection station and an active water feature which represents the flow of Sea Isle’s history from the past, to the present and onto the future.

The gardens

On April 27th, 2016, the enhanced Memorial garden was formally dedicated to or past President, Mike Stafford and his late wife, Marie, both of whom did so much to nurture and grow the Historical Museum to what it is today.

Stone Harbor Museum 9410 Second Avenue Stone Harbor, NJ 08247

Stone Harbor Museum 9410 Second Avenue Stone Harbor, NJ 08247

Stone Harbor Museum

9410 Second Avenue

Stone Harbor, NJ 08247

(609) 368-7500

Home

https://www.facebook.com/stoneharbormuseum/

My review on TripAdvisor”

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46850-d12832764-Reviews-Stone_Harbor_Museum-Stone_Harbor_Cape_May_County_New_Jersey.html

The entrance to the Stone Harbor Museum at 9410 Second Avenue

On a recent trip to the Jersey Shore, I took an long drive down the coastline visiting small historical museums of the shore towns and they gave me an interesting perspective of how these towns were developed from the time of Native American fishing and hunting villages to the advent of railroads and Victorian hotels to the modern development of the town today. Stone Harbor, NJ has had an interesting path since its development in the late 1800’s.

The Stone Harbor Museum display from the Women’s Civic Club of Stone Harbor

The Stone Harbor Museum was founded in 1996 by a group of involved residents who wanted to showcase their town’s history. The current museum was opened in 2016 and has many different exhibitions going on, some permanent and others are seasonal and keep rotating within the museum. When you walk in, the museum is divided by sections and displays of their museum.

The Stone Harbor Museum Historical Window

Leading into the entrance, there was a very interesting exhibit on “9/11” for the Twentieth Anniversary of the event by a Chief from the Stone Harbor Fire Department. It was a series of articles from local and national papers, some artifacts and information on the fire service. It was a very touching reminder of what fire fighters did that horrible day.

The Stone Harbor Fire Department display in 2024 (the 9/11 exhibit closed a year later)

There were many displays on the history of Stone Harbor with the Stone Harbor School System and the Borough of Stone Harbor exhibiting artifacts. Interesting pictures and items of the Stone Harbor Beach Patrol were proudly displayed which I noticed from my many stops at various historical societies on the Jersey Shore is very much a part of the town culture. These teams take their competitions amongst the towns very seriously with events like boating and swimming.

The Stone Harbor Beach Patrol display

There were many pictures of old homes at a time when the town was a Victorian beach resort and people came to the Jersey shore for extended vacations. You could see the progression of the town over a century from a seaside resort to a permanent residential town. The architecture has significantly changed over the years to slightly smaller homes but no less impressive all over the town.

The Stone Harbor Hotels

There were extensive pictures and displays of the importance of the rail system and the role it played in the growth of the area and to all shore communities. Its history pretty much ended with the advent of the Model T and the growth of cars to the Jersey shore. Soon the modern highways made the rail system obsolete.

Ladies at the shore enjoying a ride

Still there are many displays of ‘fun in the sun’ and the growth of beach activities and recreation with the growth of sun bathing, swimming, boating and fishing. People’s leisure time was growing and the Jersey shore filled their time with sun bathing and swimming. The changes of attitude in swimwear have been tremendous especially from the one piece and hats to the modern bikini in just 80 years.

Swimwear at the turn of the last century

There were pictures and artifacts from various shipwrecks off the coast of the town. It showcased the maritime history of the town and of the Jersey shore in general. It showed the importance of the town in a era of trade that is long gone. This shipping lines too became obsolete as rail service replaced them.

The main gallery of the museum

There was a interesting collection of items entitled Church and Faith of all the churches in the town that played such a important role in the social life of the turn of the last century. This was a time before TV, radio, the advent of movies and especially the Internet. This was at time when people’s social life revolved the social life of places of worship.

The Office Display

In the center of the museum there is an extensive library with shelves lined with notebooks full of pictures and historical details neatly bound. This is the records of the town and the citizens who have lived here over the years.

Artifacts from the town

The two big displays right now for kids has been the Taylor Swift, the famous singer, display of items that her family donated to the museum. It seems that she summered here as a child and played in the local clubs. The other was the dinosaur bone display of items found locally in the area and around New Jersey. The museum has a popular scavenger hunt for the kids where they have to find items on display.

The new Taylor Swift display on the years she vacationed here

The Taylor Swift exhibition

The Dinosaur Display

The Dinosaur display

The Dinosaur display

The one thing I liked about the museum is that it does not overwhelm you when you are visiting. The exhibits are detailed but compact. You learn a lot about the town with enough information and artifacts but you can still enjoy the display in about twenty minutes to about a half hour. The whole museum takes about an hour to two hours to visit maybe more if you are really enjoying yourself.

The staff could not have been nicer and take such pride in the museum. The afternoon I visited the museum one of the long time residents who volunteers at the museum was able to share her knowledge of the town. For a small town, it is chockful of interesting history.

The Maps display

The Stone Harbor Museum History:

(from their website and pamphlets)

The Mission:

To acquire, preserve, display, celebrate and promote archival and artifact items relevant to the development of our unique cultural heritage and to delight, inspire and educate the present and future generations about the story of Stone Harbor, NJ.

The Vision:

To be inviting, informative and innovative community resource that is recognized and respected as the place for exploring and celebrating rich cultural heritage of Stone Harbor, NJ.

The Restaurant display

Barnegat Light Museum/The Edith Duff Gwinn Gardens 501 Central Avenue Barnegat Light, NJ 08006

Barnegat Light Museum/The Edith Duff Gwinn Gardens 501 Central Avenue Barnegat Light, NJ 08006

Barnegat Light Museum/The Edith Duff Gwinn Gardens

501 Central Avenue

Barnegat Light, NJ 08006

(609) 494-8578

Open: July and August Sunday-Saturday 10:00am-4:00pm/June-October 10:00am-4:00pm/Seasonal

Fee: Donation to the museum

https://barnegatlightmuseum.org

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46285-d8548161-Reviews-Barnegat_Light_Museum-Barnegat_Light_Long_Beach_Island_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

The Barnegat Light Museum at 501 Central Avenue

I was on Long Beach Island for the afternoon and had wanted to visit the Barnegat Light Museum on my last trip to the island but it was closed for the afternoon. When I checked the site to see if it was open this weekend, I found that it was and since I had to be in Beach Haven that afternoon I made it my first trip.

The Barnegat Light Museum sign in the off season.

The museum is now open ‘by appointment only’ in the off season, so I called the number provided and the President of the Museum Board opened the museum up for me and gave me a personal tour. What an interesting little museum packed with information and artifacts.

The Barnegat Light Museum main gallery

The museum is a former one room school house that was built in 1903 and used by island school children until 1954. The building still houses the original heating unit, a coal burning furnace and books of the children’s notes from school that had been handwritten (now typed) of current events and school notes.

The main gallery of the Barnegat Light Museum

The main gallery of the museum

The main attraction is the original light, a 1052 prism lens, for the Barnegat Lighthouse on display since 1927. The glass panels and sheer size and beauty of light shows how it was once the beacon for ships along the New Jersey coast. It had been brought to museum after moving around to various places over the years.

The original Barnegat Light for the Lighthouse

The Lighthouse and light display in the museum

Along the walls are all sorts of local artifacts such as dinosaur bones that had been found in the bay and donated to the museum (the president of the museum said today there are certain laws on this), local housewares from families that lived on the island and various types of fishing equipment.

Display cases filled with local fishing artifacts and net configuration for ‘Pound Fishing’

Shark Teeth, Native American Artifacts and prehistoric fossils

There is even a mini display of ‘Pound Fishing”, which is a series of poles and nets are used to catch the fisherman’s prey. This small display shows how it is constructed and used to catch the fish. There is an extensive display of Duck decoys, showing the island’s past and present as a hunting ground for water fowl. The displays come in all colors and types of ducks. There is also an interesting display of whale vertebrae and other fishing displays.

The Whale Vertebrae exhibit

There is an extensive history of the resort hotels that used to be on this part of the island that had been effected by the changing tides of the island. Like the old lighthouse and lighthouse keepers home, one of the hotels just gave way to erosion. This part of the island just keeps shifting.

The Resort and Hotels display of menus

The Resort and Hotels display-The former hotels

The Resort and Hotels display-Dishware and resort artifacts

Hotels disappeared because of shifting tides

Water sports and fishing displays

Since the building was once home to Barnegat Light’s School house, the original furnace is still in the building along with a display of items from old schools in the area.

The School gallery

The Schoolhouse Gallery

The schoolhouse furnace

The retail trade in the early part of the century leading from the old railroad track to the island was the local General Store. The railroads were a big part of the growth of this area until automobiles to the shore became the preferred mode of transportation.

The railroad display

The General Store exhibit

The General Store exhibit

The Edith Duff Gwinn Gardens behind the museum in all seasons:

One beautiful benefit of the museum is the beautiful gardens that surround the museum, The Edith Duff Gwinn Gardens. The pathways are maintained by the Long Beach Island Garden Club. These wondering paths surround the property and especially elegant looking in the back of the building.

The Gardens from the back of the museum

The Garden plaque to Edith Duff Gwinn

The Edith Duff Gwinn Gardens are on the side and behind the museum

The Edith Duff Gwinn Gardens that surround the museum are maintained by the Long Beach Island Garden Club. The gardens are at their peak in the late Spring and early Summer months. The paths are filled with seasonal flowers and shrubs.

In the off season, you can visit the museum by calling ahead and you can schedule an appointment with the staff of volunteers that work at the museum.

The Gardens in the late Summer of 2024

The Beehive

The Gardens in the late Summer of 2024

The Gardens in the late Summer

The Gardens in the late summer

The Garden paths are filled with colorful flowers and plants

The back of the Gardens and the seating area

The back of the Gardens

The Gardens also looked beautiful in the late fall when I arrived for the early holiday activities in Viking Village. I was able to walk around when the museum was closed for the season.

The Gardens during the late fall:

The Gardens during the late fall:

The Gardens during the late fall:

The Gardens during the late fall:

The gardens around Halloween time

The gardens in the Spring and Summer are quite spectacular and the volunteers do a nice job with the landscaping around the museum.

The gardens in the early Summer of 2024

The Gardens in the Summer of 2024

The Gardens in the Summer of 2024

The Gardens in the Summer of 2024

The gardens are really nice in the summer months

Both on the personal tour and when the museum is open during the summer months, the museum is a real treat both inside and out. This small museum is chock full of information not just on Barnegat Light but on the areas development for tourism and business.

It is such an interesting piece of Jersey Shore history.

New Jersey Maritime Museum 528 Dock Road Beach Haven, NJ 08008

New Jersey Maritime Museum 528 Dock Road Beach Haven, NJ 08008

New Jersey Maritime Museum

528 Dock Road

Beach Haven, NJ 08008

(609) 492-0202

Homepage

https://www.facebook.com/NJMaritimeMuseum/

Open: Sunday-Saturday 10:00am-4:00pm (Check by season)

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46292-d1881647-Reviews-Museum_of_NJ_Maritime_History-Beach_Haven_Long_Beach_Island_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

I made a special trip to Beach Haven, NJ recently to visit the NJ Maritime Museum which had gotten some interesting write ups online. The museum covers many aspects of the maritime history of Long Beach Island and the surrounding Jersey Shore and the State of New Jersey.

The NJ Maritime Museum at 528 Dock Road in Beach Haven, NJ.

Each of the rooms are packed with pictures, artifacts and explanations of all the events. The front room has a lot of information of ship wrecks, both local and from all over the state.

The Front Galleries of the NJ Maritime Museum.

There is a large story board of the 1916 Shark attacks that inspired the book and movie, “Jaws” including the clippings from the paper and pictures of the cemetery where the victims were buried. It was a very detailed display of the incident.

The front section of the museum has the display of the “Morro Castle” fire.

In the back room of the first floor the room is dedicated to the 1934 “Morro Castle” luxury liner disaster where incompetence from the crew and staff lead to the burning of the ocean liner on its way back from Havana to New York at the height of the Depression and twenty years after the Titanic Disaster. The displays included menus, artifacts from the ship, witness accounts and a movie on the disaster being shown in a loop.

The Morro Castle Fire exhibition.

Natural disasters are covered as well with storms that have reeked havoc to the Jersey Shore over the last hundred years including the recent Hurricane Sandy which was the perfect storm. The pictures show the disaster that have hit Long Beach Island and the rebuilding over the years.

The history of Diving exhibition on the second floor.

There is a lot of local history with pictures of the all the luxury resorts that used to be on the island and its role in the development of the area as an early resort town through the railroads as well as the history of the local “Women’s Surf Fishing Club” and pictures of the club members over the years.

The second floor galleries.

The second floor is dedicated to the local Coast Guard history and rooms full of artifacts from local shipwrecks and the history of the local maritime history and fishing industry.

The Andrea Dora exhibition on the second floor.

The New Jersey Maritime history is in full display here

For such a small museum, the museum is packed with all sorts of interesting information on the New Jersey Shore line.

The History of the NJ Maritime Museum:

On a 1983 episode of the television program “Prime Time”, Jim O’Brien did a segment on New Jersey Shipwreck Diving, interviewing Bob Yates and Deb Whitecraft. During that interview, Deb spoke of her quest for knowledge about different wrecks and New Jersey maritime disasters. She also stated that she had started collecting this information and other items pertaining to New Jersey Maritime History and that she hope to one day have a place to display her collection. On July, 3rd, 2007, Deb’s lifelong ambition came to fruition when the Museum of New Jersey Maritime History opened its doors.

In the years between the program and the museum opening, Deb actively pursued her quest, working with other New Jersey maritime historians and amassing a sizable collection of shipwreck files and artifacts. This collection comprised almost all of the museum’s material when it opened. In the years since it opened, the museum has grown at amazing rate, thanks to the donations and loans from the diving community and the public in general.

The second floor galleries.

Although the museum was built entirely with private funds, it is now a registered non-profit entity and deed restricted to remain so. It operates entirely on donations and is staffed by a small group of dedicated volunteers. The museum is open all year long, Friday through Sunday in the off-season and seven days a week during the summer.

(NJ Maritime Website History)

The NJ Maritime Museum Mission:

The Museum of New Jersey Maritime History Inc. is a museum and research facility organized exclusively for educational purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The corporation’s educational purposes include, among other things, providing a facility for the public display of historic maritime artifacts, books and documents. The display of such collections, preserved and exhibited under professional museum standards will encourage maritime research and promote the education of the public about New Jersey’s rich maritime history.

The museum is really interesting.

(NJ Maritime Museum pamphlet)