NJ Small Museums – Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical

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 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.

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 is chock full of information

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.

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.

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 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 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 museum has very detailed displays

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.

(NJ Maritime Museum pamphlet)

The Blauvelt Art Museum

705 Kinderkamack Road

Oradell, NJ 07649

Phone: (201) 261-0012

blauveltartmuseum.com

(e) info@blauveltartmuseum.com

https://www.blauveltartmuseum.com/

https://www.blauveltartmuseum.com/current.html

This interesting little ‘gem’ is located up on the hill next to Blauvelt Mansion and is easy to miss. You will see the signs as you drive past it.

Open: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: 10:00am-4:00pm/Saturday and Sunday: 2:00pm-5:00pm

Fee: Free donations accepted

The Blauvelt Art Museum is funded by the Blauvelt-Demarest Foundation and is a member of the New Jersey Association of Museums, the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums and the American Association of Museums.

TripAdvisor Review:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46706-d10628647-Reviews-Hiram_Blauvelt_Art_Museum-Oradell_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

The Blauvelt Art Museum was established in 1957 by the Blauvelt-Demarest Foundation, a legacy of the late Hiram Blauvelt, philanthropist, conservationist and collector. Through the contribution of his private wildlife art and big game collections, he hoped to promote the cultural value of wildlife art and the need for conservation of its subject and their habitats.

The galleries

During the early part of the 20th Century, wildlife was believe to be abundant. Many dedicated conservationists, notable Theodore Roosevelt, gathered animals from their natural habitats for museums. The beauty of the animals could then be viewed by many.

Like Roosevelt, Hiram Blauvelt realized the value of his collection and wanted to share it with the public. It was his interest and desire to share his far ranging adventures, his stories of explorations and his collection of these animals. Hiram hoped to educate the coming generations to the diversity and beauty of the wildlife kingdom. He especially wanted to enlighten the public to the challenges we face to preserve the marvels of wildlife and their natural environments.

Founded in 1957 as a natural history museum, it introduced students, scouts and youth groups to the need to support wildlife and habitats conservation. Visiting artists created drawings and paintings from close observations of the specimens.

Twenty-five years later, the Board of Directors of the Blauvelt-Demarest Foundation decided that the original objectives would be best achieved by redesigning the museum to feature the works of contemporary wildlife artists, built on the artistic foundation of the Blauvelt’s early collection of works by Charles Livingston Bull (notably a resident of Oradell at one time), Carl Rungius and a complete Audubon Folio of birds of America.

The Blauvelt Museum, located in an 1893 cedar shingle and turret carriage house, underwent extensive renovations to accommodate its new and expanded mission. The original carriage house was re-designed to include a large reception area, 4 mini galleries and museum offices, all with original materials from the historic building and preserving its aura.

The Blauvelt Art Museum

Four new galleries were added, providing wall space for mounting museum quality flatwork and generous room for pedestals to hold creative sculpture. Substantial artificial lighting is augmented by natural light from the north.

High on a hill overlooking the Hackensack River, the Oradell Reservoir and parklands to the east, the entrance to the museum is through a curving stone and slate terrace, framed by large oak trees and other indigenous foliage, which serves as a natural sculpture garden.

Many of its visitors today, accompanied by their children, are revisiting the museum which they first visited with their parents in past decades. The Blauvelt treasures their comments remarking on the greater beauties of its collections, while preserving the ambiance of their memories.

The inside of the museum

Artist in Residence:

The Blauvelt Art Museum established an Artist-in-Residence program in 1985. Artists were selected on the basis of their artistic ability and promise and on their commitment to the museums’s mission for the need for conservation to protect wildlife and their habitats. The museum provides a furnished home for the artist on the museum property, including a studio, painting supplies, etc. Artist-in-Residence have given lectures, led round table discussions, visited schools and demonstrated painting and drawing techniques.

The Current Exhibition (2018):

Artist Brian Jarvi’s African Menagerie is showing right now and the collection has some very interesting and detailed pieces on Mr. Jarvi’s visits to Africa. Don’t miss this exhibition!

Disclaimer: This information was take directly from the pamphlet provided by the Blauvelt Art Museum. Please call the museum for any changes to their time schedule and don’t miss the current exhibition.

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: