Point Pleasant Historical Museum
416 New Jersey Avenue
Point Pleasant, NJ 08742
(732) 892-3091
https://www.facebook.com/PPHSMNJ/
Admission: Donations accepted
My review on TripAdvisor
I took a trip to a well known to the well known beach community of Point Pleasant Beach to see what other activities were available rather than just spending time at the Boardwalk. After about an hour there, there was not much else to see or do. I found it in the Point Pleasant Historical Society Museum, a small gallery that is a treasure trove of artifacts and information on the history of the town. The collection may be small but it is packed with interesting tidbits of the history of this shore town and its development from a small fishing and farming community to the well known resort town that it is today.
The gallery is located in the back of City Hall just off the main downtown area a few blocks away. It may seem unassuming but there is a lot to look at the museum. On top of the local amusement industry and the development of the Jenkinson Boardwalk and Aquarium, there was the growth of the town of local businesses that contributed to the direction that the town is now.
Some of the most interesting artifacts had to deal with local disasters in the surrounding communities such as the Morro Castle Ocean Liner fire of 1934 and the Hindenburg disaster in Lakehurst in 1937. These aspects of ‘Dark Tourism’ are displayed with artifacts from those incidents. There is a small collection of Lenape artifacts from when this was a seasonal fishing village of the Native Americans and artifacts from both the Point Pleasant Fire and Police Departments on their early development in the town. You could also see the change in the types of cottage businesses that cater to the locals versus the tourists.
Take time to look through the cases and see all the interesting objects that the collection carries. They also have a room dedicated to town history and family lineage if your intention is to find family members or the history of a business such as Jenkinson’s or even the Jersey Mike’s chain which originated in this town. There is a lot to see and explore in about an hour to an hour and a half.
Mission Statement:
The mission of the Point Pleasant Historical Society and Museum is to preserve and share the rich history of both Point Pleasant Beach and Point Pleasant Boro. The Society traces it roots back to about 1976 when long time local resident, Margaret “Peg” Busse planted the seed of a need for a historical society to properly preserve the history, artifacts and memories of days gone by.
Peg worked tirelessly to sign up new members and offered her home and yard for meetings. She advanced our goals, kept our records, and made the Shore Harbor Historical Society famous for Beach Plum Jam until retiring in 1990. We thank her and Victoria Hassett and Carolyn Martin who together wrote the book on the society. Since 1990, Jim and Pat Malone have guided the organization selflessly and Richard and Sharon Morris have worked tirelessly to organize and administer the museum.
The Point Pleasant Historical Museum at 416 New Jersey Avenue.
This wonderful little museum is a large one room display of the history of the town of Point Pleasant and the surrounding businesses. Each display holds the town’s treasures and the key to its past both for shore development and its progression as a tourism destination.
The development of the original Point Pleasant City at the turn of the last century.
The town had been home to the Native American tribes until the arrival of colonists and its development in the late 1800’s. What was once a farm was developed into the current town it is today. As tourism developed after the Civil War to WWI, businesses developed, amusements, hotels and bathing pavilions were added and services catering to this population sprung up.
The main gallery of the Point Pleasant Historical Museum
The museum display cases are broken down into the local history of the town. The local community administration of Fire and Police is displayed here.
The town historical records and local business, schools and Native American history are displayed here.
The Lenape display of Native American artifacts in the collection
The Point Pleasant Police Department Jail cell door showing its past as part of the town fabric
The original fire trumpet of the Chief of the Point Pleasant Fire Department
The development of the Boating and Fishing industries of the area
The museum also covers local famous disasters such as the Hindenburg disaster which happened in Lakehurst, NJ and the Moro Castle Cruise fire of the 1934. They even had the artifacts from the sites.
The Moro Castle Cruise disaster of 1934
The Hindenburg disaster of 1937 took place in Lakehurst, NJ
The Society also has a nice collection on local businesses. You could see how the businesses of the town developed from catering to a nautical and farming economy to the tourism and amusement industry. The problem with a town that depends too much on tourism is when the off season comes, how to you pivot the business to locals. You are now seeing this development in the downtown where there is a growth of clothing and antique stores.
The Pleasant Farms dairy farm (now a dealership)
The Jenkinson Boardwalk in its early years
What I thought was interesting is that this is where the Jersey Mikes sub chain started. In the town’s historical records are the original records of the first store along with the story of the company. This is a good selling point for the town.
The original Jersey Mike’s store in Point Pleasant, NJ
The collection contains a little bit of this and that in the cases as the membership is working to grow the collection. As the collection grows, we will see more of what makes the town of Point Pleasant the special place that it is as a community.
The collection case of items from residents personal homes
The collection case of community departments and hobbies
The collection case of business related items and household items
The collection of vintage bottles
Some of the interesting artifacts that I saw the head of a ship mass. The volunteer had said that this had washed up on shore and was donated by the people who found it.
The face from the ship bulkhead that was found washed up on shore
The bathing and swimming aspect of the beach community.
This delightful little museum is a nice rainy day adventure when you are in Point Pleasant on your way to discovering its funky downtown. It just goes to show that there is a lot more to this beach community than just the boardwalk and the beach.
An eel basket from the fishing industry
US Armed Forces collection of the WWII era
Beach art and history of the community of Point Pleasant
It is a perfect rainy day activity or for people who are interested in the history of the town, this little hidden gem is the place to start.
Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical 