Long Beach Island (colloquially known as LBI or simply The Island) is a barrier island and summer colony along the Atlantic Ocean coast of Ocean County, New Jersey in the United States. Aligned north-south, the northern portion is generally slightly higher end low-density residential, whereas the southern portion possesses higher-density housing and considerable commercial development. The primary industries include tourism, fishing, and real estate.
The only access point to the island by land is a single causeway. The island is home to about 20,000 people on a year-round basis. The population is distributed among six separate municipalities, the largest of which is Long Beach Township. However, the island's population swells significantly during the summer months and reaches about 100,000 people, including part-time residents and tourists, who are often referred to as "bennies" or the lesser known term "shoobies". The island's close-knit communities are largely affluent and contain vacation homes for wealthy individuals who reside elsewhere, primarily New Jersey as well as New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.
Todays Home Values on Long Beach Island have increased significantly!
Long Beach Island (LBI) is located 24 miles (39 km) north of Atlantic City, 61 miles (98 km) east-southeast of Philadelphia and 101 miles (163 km) south of New York City. LBI is approximately 18 miles (29 km) in length, which includes three miles (5 km) of nature reserve located on the southern tip] The island is about a half-mile wide (800 m) at its widest point in Ship Bottom, and spans a fifth of a mile (300 m) at its narrowest point in Harvey Cedars.
Long Beach Island is bisected by State Route 72, formerly "South 40", which connects the mainland to the island at Ship Bottom. It is the sole access point for road vehicles to the mainland over Manahawkin Bay. This results in the division of the island into a northern portion and a southern portion. From the bridge northward, the island includes the communities of Ship Bottom, Surf City, North Beach (a section of Long Beach Township), Harvey Cedars, Loveladies (a section of Long Beach Township), High Bar Harbor (the northernmost section of Long Beach Township), and Barnegat Light. From the bridge southward, the island includes the communities of Ship Bottom, Long Beach Township (including the census-designated place of North Beach Haven) and Beach Haven, with the Holgate section of Long Beach Township at the southernmost tip of the island.
History
The island has been continuously settled since 1690, initially being a destination for hunters. Barnegat Inlet, to the north of the island, was an important path for freight shipments and whaling from the 17th century through the 20th century. Due to the Inlet's importance and its turbulent waters, a lighthouse tower was constructed in 1835 to guide shippers through the area, but was inadequate to ships, constantly being mistaken for another passing ship because the light was fixed. Erosion problems destroyed the tower in 1857, two years before the current Barnegat Lighthouse was completed in 1859, flashing at each point of the compass every 10 seconds. It was constructed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers under the supervision of George Gordon Meade, famous for leading the Union forces to victory four years later during the Civil War at the Battle of Gettysburg. The United States Life-Saving Service built Station #17 in Barnegat Light (then known as Brownsville) around 1872, which continues today as a United States Coast Guard station.
A developing tourism sector prompted The Tuckerton Railroad (a short line running from Tuckerton to Whiting) to build a bridge across Barnegat bay that ran from Barnegat city to Beach Haven; the tracks were completed in 1886, and were leased to the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). The Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 included a fatal attack in Beach Haven, killing University of Pennsylvania student Charles Vansant in July 1916, which partly inspired the book Jaws. A severe winter storm in 1920 destroyed most of the beaches along the island, several hotels, and reopening the new inlet in Holgate. A storm in 1923 further diminished the tourism sector, resulting in the discontinuation of train service to Barnegat City between 1923 and 1926. In 1935, the railroad bridge to the mainland washed out, leaving the entire island without rail service.
Several storms throughout the island's history have resulted in the island being split in two, with the division occurring at the island's narrowest point in Harvey Cedars. Most famous of such storms, however, was the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962, which split Long Beach Island into numerous pieces and nearly destroyed the island in its entirety. The storm caused the destroyer USS Monssen to run aground in Beach Haven Inlet, Long Beach Township. The existing Route 72 Causeway was erected in the late 1950s which replaced a low-level two-lane automobile bridge which in itself had replaced the previously destroyed railroad bridge.
Hurricane Sandy
In late October 2012, portions of Long Beach Island were significantly damaged by Hurricane Sandy. Residents were evacuated and portions of the island were severely flooded, with the ocean meeting the bay in isolated spots. Streets were left covered with up to four feet of sand in some spots. Several homes along the ocean and bay front communities were damaged by the nine-foot storm surge and 18-foot seas that pounded the barrier island.
The Manahawkin Bay Bridge remained closed to residents for a full 13 days following the storm, and locals were prohibited from returning to the island except for brief visits to retrieve belongings. Bulldozers and front-end loaders moved hundreds of tons of sand, along with power lines and boats, in an attempt to make the roadways passable. Long Beach Island was finally re-opened to residents and building owners on November 10, with the exception of the Holgate section of Long Beach Township, where infrastructure and road damage was still too dangerous. However, island officials warned that some areas were still without sewerage, water and electric service at that time.
Damage was distributed unevenly throughout the island. Areas with a protective dune system had limited damage, while areas without dunes, or where dunes were breached, received significantly more damage. In those neighborhoods — in sections like Holgate, on the island’s southern tip — destruction was severe. The protective sand dunes, an ambitious project developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been a source of controversy in recent years, and have led to conflict between local officials arguing for the need of dunes, and property owners who felt that the dunes devalued their property. As such, the work is incomplete and there are significant breaks in the dune system. Other hard-hit areas included Loveladies and North Beach. Areas where the dune system was in place fared much better, such as Harvey Cedars, Ship Bottom, Surf City and Barnegat Light.
Electricity was restored to 70% of the Island by November 4, 2012 By November 20, 2012 natural gas service was restored to nearly the entire Island. By mid-November many businesses were re-opened on Long Beach Island with life resuming as normal for much of the Island by mid-December.
RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE
Ocean County / Monmouth County / Cape May County
Scott McSorley/Weichert Realtors LBI
326 W 9th St, Ship Bottom, NJ, 08008
Cell: 908-670-3574
Office: 609-494-6000
ScottMcSorley@Outlook.com
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